Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia: Will the Basques Take a Step to the Europa League Zone?

One of the matches of the round 35 of the Spanish championship will be between Athletic and Valencia. Given the lack of tournament motivation for the Bats, the Basques are quoted favorites, which is really hard to argue with. 

After the embarrassing defeat by Celta, Athletic played two matches in La Liga and won both. First, an away match against Cádiz, 3:2, and then against Atletico at home, 2:0. The Basques saved eighth place in the standings and even have a chance of claiming the sixth place, which would allow the team to start the next season in the Europa League. At the moment the gap from Real Sociedad is five points. However, they will hold the match against Levante on Friday night. Atletico also has the eighth-highest home statistics in the division, +9=3-5, 27:18 goal difference.

Another disappointing season for Valencia. There was hope for the Spanish Cup, but the Bats lost in the final to Betis. Valencia have not won six games in a row since March 19, the game against Elche. In the standings Valencia occupies 10th place with 43 points. It is obvious that Levante are not destined to European Cups as well as leaving the Spanish elite. On the road Valencia also has the 10th statistic, +5=5-7, 21:28 goal difference.

The tournament motivation is on the side of Athletic. They still have a chance for a place in the Europa League zone, but the team need to finish the season with some brilliant results. The current form of the Basques is excellent, which also gives confidence in betting on this team. We should pay attention to the statistics of their personal meetings in Bilbao. Athletic has won 55% of matches against Valencia - a decent figure.

We also noted that recently personal meetings between Athletic and Valencia were unproductive. Specifically, the last four matches were draws. The main thing for Athletic is to beat Valencia, the Basques do not need a big score. 

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