Athletic Bilbao

vs

Elche

Preview

Athletic Bilbao

• Athletic Bilbao are having a strong season by their standards, currently sitting in ninth place in LaLiga 2025/2026 with 31 points from 24 games.
• Bilbao bounced back from their Copa del Rey defeat to Real Sociedad by beating Real Oviedo 2-1 away from home last time out, leaving them with three wins, one draw and one defeat in their last five in all competitions.
• Ernesto Valverde’s men have been in decent form at San Mames with six wins, two draws and four defeats from 12 LaLiga matches, but it is too early to call them a dominant force at home.

Elche

• Elche are without a victory on the road in LaLiga 2025/2026 with four draws and seven defeats from 11 fixtures.
• Elche are in a dogfight to remain in the top flight in 2025-2026 and they face a tricky trip to the Basque Country on Friday to face Athletic Bilbao in a battle of contrasting philosophies.

Head-to-Head

• Elche have one win and a draw from their two LaLiga 2025/2026 meetings with Athletic Bilbao, who have never beaten them in that sequence.
• The last meeting finished 0-0 at Estadio Martinez Valero four months ago in what was a close game.

Key Players

• Rafa Mir is top scorer for Elche with six goals in 19 appearances in the league and is their only real goal threat at the moment.
• Robert Navarro is Bilbao’s top-scorer in the competition with five goals in 20 games and offers a consistent midfield threat, so back the visitors to score at least once in a home win.

Betting Insights

• The Both Teams to Score market looks like a good option at 1.9 considering Athletic have shipped 14 goals in 12 home LaLiga games and Elche have the finishers to trouble them.
• Athletic are the favorite at 1.65 with Elche at 5.25 to win, which is understandable given the teams’ respective form, home advantage and Elche’s away troubles (L7, D4).