Back to back wins over Granada and Mallorca served as a big confidence boost for Sporting, with los Rojiblancos looking to make it three in a row when they host Athletic Bilbao. Los Leones continued the impressive run with a convincing win over Atletico Madrid, and they, too, are hoping to get all three points from this clash.

Major boost for Sporting

After narrowly surviving the previous La Liga campaign, Sporting desperately needed to add some quality to the side in order to properly prepare for the new season, but not only did the club chiefs fail to bring any notable players, but they also stayed without key footballers, Jose Angel and Diego Castro. Therefore, nobody was surprised to see Sporting pick up just one point from first seven games, although they did show some improvement to record back to back wins over Granada and Mallorca. However, two wins against fellow strugglers cannot change the fact that los Rojiblancos simply don’t have enough quality to play at this level. Even coach Manolo Preciado admitted that his side had been pretty lucky to beat Granada and Mallorca. With major problems in the scoring department, the hosts will find it tough to hurt Athletic’s very good back line, whereas Sporting defenders will have their hands full with the likes of Llorente, Muniain, Susaeta and Herrera.

Manolo Preciado was hoping to name an unchanged line-up to that which started against Mallorca, but that might not be possible now that Lora and Nacho Cases are considered major doubts.

Future is bright for Athletic

Even when Athletic sat in the relegation zone after picking up just two points from first five La Liga games, everybody knew that los Leones would start climbing the table in no time. The squad filled with talent combined with the tactical genius of Marcelo Bielsa soon proved to be the winning combination, as Athletic went on to win four and draw two of their next six games in all competitions. While the home wins over Paris Saint-Germain, Osasuna and Atletico Madrid were hardly surprising given team’s traditionally impressive showings at San Mames, the Basques also managed to beat fierce rivals Real Sociedad away from home, while getting really close to bringing all three points from Mestalla as well. The two results prove that Athletic have shown a massive improvement in their away form, and seeing they are now set to face one of the weakest sides in La Liga, the game at El Molinon could be a great opportunity for another away win.

Javi Martinez and Fernando Amorebieta miss out through injury, but Ander Herrera could start his first game after recovering from a knee injury.

Verdict

Sporting Gijon did show some improvement of late, but they are still the same team that could take just one point from first four home games. Athletic Bilbao are brimming with confidence following some amazing performances and they definitely have what it takes to win this game.

Our prediction: Athletic Bilbao Draw No Bet

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: Ladbrokes