Elche vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction & Match Preview

Elche vs Athletic Bilbao
Spain – Copa del Rey
Date: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Kick-off at 18:00 UK/ 19:00 CET
Venue: Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero (Elche).

Despite having home advantage, Elche, the 9th placed team in the Segunda Division should find life hard against the incoming Bilbao, a European prospect from the top flight.

Elche vs Athletic Bilbao Head-to-head (h2h)

• The last time these two met, Bilbao won on the road, 2-3.
• This last decade, not a sinlge win have been posted by a team at home.
• Only once have Bilbao failed to score against this opponent in the last ten years.
• Both teams scored goals in the previous two games.

Elche vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction

Elche were on the road in the previous round, and they had taken on Yeclano. Still, the guests managed to record a 1-2 win, with the winner coming late in the 79th minute to take a spot in the Round of 32.

Meanwhile, Bilbao too were away from home, and had locked horns with Sestao. Expectedly, the La Liga outfit registered a massive 0-4 win en route to the next stage.

This Wednesday, by all means Bilbao are the favorites. And the reasons are pretty apparent.

First off, Bilbao are a major presence in the Spanish top flight, officially regarded as the best league in Europe by UEFA. 

This season, Bilbao have been putting forth great performances, and keep note that they had begun their league campaign with a win to nil over reigning champions Barcelona.

On the other hand, Elche are from the second division, and even there the team have not been that much of a hit. They have won just 8 of their total 24 fixtures, and have scored just 29 goals so far from these many games.

In addition, Bilbao are on an unbeaten run of six match-ups, and were so in 15 of their former 17. On the road, the Basque outfit are on a run of four invincible fixtures, and have conceded a total of just one goal from these four matches.

On the contrary, Elche were winless in six of their last ten overall games, and were so in eleven of their previous fourteen appearances in front of the home crowd. In fact, this whole season, Elche have managed a total of just three wins at home. 

Going on, Bilbao had won the latest h2h encounter, and that too at this venue by a scoreline of 2-3. Also, this whole decade, not a single h2h win has been posted by a team that played the hosts.

Considering all these observations, it’s estimated that Athletic Bilbao are on course to record a huge win this Wednesday.

Elche vs Athletic Bilbao Betting Tips

• Athletic Bilbao to Win @ 1.83 (5/6)

• Half Time/ Full Time: Athletic Bilbao/ Athletic Bilbao @ 2.60 (8/5).