Athletic Club vs Espanyol Predictions, Lineups & Betting Tips

Athletic Club vs Espanyol Predictions, Lineups & Betting Tips

Match Details: December 22, 2025 | San Mamés Stadium | La Liga | 20:00 GMT

Espanyol travel to the Basque Country to take on Athletic Club on an evenly matched top-half La Liga clash that could be vital for both sides going forward. The hosts haven't had an ideal start to the season but are still in a decent eighth place and aren't far behind the European spots, but they also don't have much breathing room from the chasing pack behind them. Espanyol, meanwhile, are comfortably in a European spot in the approach to this game, and will be looking to build on their good start to establish themselves as a strong contender at the top end of the table.

Key Betting Tips: Athletic Club to Win at 1.75 odds on both talkSPORT BET and BoyleSports represent good value based on the tip provided by Football Park's advanced algorithm.

With a pretty evenly matched tie on our hands, it looks as though home advantage is going to count for a lot in this game. While their results haven't been as good as Espanyol's, the hosts have had a much tougher run of fixtures and have still earned some decent results, so their momentum should carry them to a good result here.

Athletic Club vs Espanyol Predicted Lineups

Athletic Club Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Unai Simón; Adama Boiro, Iñigo Lekue, Aitor Paredes, Jesús Areso; Mikel Jauregizar, Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta; Nico Williams, Oihan Sancet, Iñaki Williams; Alex Berenguer

Ernesto Valverde has a lot of absences to keep in mind when selecting his squad for this game, with up to eight players deemed unavailable. Yuri Berchiche and Robert Navarro may be fit to play, but they are currently doubts for whether they will make an appearance or not, while two players in Daniel Vivian and Yeray Álvarez are both suspended. The four players confirmed to miss out are Unai Eguiluz, Maroan Sannadi, Benat Prados and experienced defender Aymeric Laporte.

Espanyol Predicted XI (4-3-3): _Marko Dmitrović; Carlos Romero, Leandro Cabrera, Fernando Calero, Omar El Hilali; Edu Expósito, Urko González, Pol Lozano; Pere Milla, Roberto Fernández, Tyrhys Dolan

It looks as though three players will be missing for Espanyol, which isn't ideal but it's significantly better than the state of their opponents. Charles Pickel, Javi Puado and Ramon Terrats all look set to be absences for this fixture.

Athletic Club vs Espanyol Current League Standings

The La Liga table adds to the narrative that this game is fairly even on paper, as there isn't very much separating them in the league. The hosts sit in eighth, only two points behind Real Betis in a Conference League qualification spot, but their record this season of eight losses to seven wins is something they'll need to improve on very quickly if they want to make the push towards European qualification. The mid-table pack is close, so Athletic Club will need to ensure they don't suffer a bad run of form, lest they'll fall down the places very quickly.

Espanyol, meanwhile, are sitting pretty in fifth as they look to re-establish themselves as the upper-mid table side they had become before their shock relegation in 2019/20. They have a decent gap of five points between themselves and Betis below, meaning they are comfortably in a Europa League qualification spot at this moment in time, and with only four points between themselves and Atletico, they may well have their targets set on a Champions League place if they can maintain their form.

Athletic Club vs Espanyol Head-to-Head Timeline

This is also a well matched fixture as we look back across history, with both sides taking 10 wins each and nine meetings between them ending as a draw, but it's Athletic Club that have had bragging rights in their more recent encounters. With three wins in their last five games, to which Espanyol were only able to manage one win, they've certainly enjoyed being the better of the two sides in the last few years, though neither side were able to prevail in their most recent game earlier this year.

Recent Head-to-Head Results:

• February 16, 2025: Espanyol 1-1 Athletic Club (La Liga)
• October 19, 2024: Athletic Club 4-1 Espanyol (La Liga)
• April 8, 2023: Espanyol 1-2 Athletic Club (La Liga)
• January 18, 2023: Athletic Club 1-0 Espanyol (Copa del Rey)
• Seotember 4, 2022: Athletic Club 0-1 Espanyol (La Liga)

Athletic Club and Espanyol Recent Matches Analysis

Athletic Club Last 5 Matches:

• Athletic Club 1-0 Ourense (A) - Copa del Rey
• Athletic Club 0-2 Celta Vigo (A) - La Liga
• Athletic Club 0-0 PSG (H) - UEFA Champions League
• Athletic Club 1-0 Atletico Madrid (H) - La Liga
• Athletic Club 0-3 Real Madrid (H) - La Liga

Though they haven't been able to put together a string of results recently, which has seen their form looking rather unconvincing, Athletico have come out of a difficult run of fixtures with a fair few positives worth focusing on. On paper, their loss against Real Madrid isn't that bad, though the 3-0 scoreline is the kind of result you'd hope to avoid. They responded well though, beating Atletico Madrid and holding PSG to a goalless draw, with clean sheets in both games to compliment the excellent results. They added a further clean sheet in the cup against third tier Ourense, though frankly the result wasn't great, and neither was their loss to Celta Vigo. With only two goals to their name in the last five games, they'll need to become more of a threat on the attack.

Espanyol Last 5 Matches:

• Espanyol 1-0 Getafe (A) - La Liga
• Espanyol 1-0 Rayo Vallecano (H) - La Liga
• Espanyol 0-1 Atletico Baleares (A) - Copa del Rey
• Espanyol 1-0 Celta Vigo (A) - La Liga
• Espanyol 2-1 Sevilla (H) - La Liga

Espanyol have been in very good form in the league, winning their last four fixtures with three clean sheets, but that's been dampened from when they faltered against second division side Atletico Baleares and fell to an embarrassing defeat in the cup. Beyond that, their results have been good and their defence has been particularly solid, but their attacking numbers aren't exactly inspiring, as they average one goal a game. As long as they're winning, though, then they won't mind.

Athletic Club vs Espanyol Predictions

Our advanced algorithm analyses over 200 data points to generate these predictions with a 53.30% confidence in Athletic Club to Win. The model factors in current form, head-to-head records, player availability, and tactical matchups.

Best Athletic Club vs Espanyol Betting Tips

Football Park’s Best Bet: Athletic Club to Win @ 1.75 odds on BoyleSports OR talkSPORT BET - Home advantage is likely to play an important role in what is an evenly matched affair, with the odds pointing in Athletic Club's favour as a result.

Key Players to Watch: Athletic Club vs Espanyol

Nico Williams (Athletic Club): The exciting Spanish prodigy has slowed down a bit this season compared to the expectations of where his career could go, with only five goal contributions in the league so far this season, but when a player is brimming with as much talent as Williams is, you can never count them out. Offering blistering pace and strong attacking output on the left-hand side, Espanyol may need to double up on the 23-year old to keep him from causing them too many problems.

Edu Expósito (Espanyol): Expósito has been a vital component of the Espanyol midfield this season, bringing a marvelous creativity and good control of the play to the side's game. He's totalled five assists so far this campaign, which is a solid number to be hitting in this division, but he also provides a lot of defensive coverage to help his side maintain their excellent numbers at the back. The Spaniard is very well-rounded, and thus is the epitome of a midfielder that you want in a 4-3-3, so keep an eye on him to control the flow of the game.

Athletic Club vs Espanyol Match Facts

Broadcast Details: Premier Sports Player, Premier Sports 1 UK, LaLigaTV

Referee: TBC

Stadium Information: Located in Rafael Moreno Pitxitxi Kalea, Bilbao, the San Mamés Stadium has been in use since 2013 and, with a capacity of 53,331, it is the largest stadium in the Basque Country, the region of Spain in which Athletic Club sign all of their players from.

Athletic Club vs Espanyol: Final Prediction

Athletic Club 3-0 Espanyol