Athletic Club - Girona - Tips by users and experts on football, 10 December 2018: Spain. La Liga

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Girona or Draw • 1.95

For all the quality they have, Bilbao have managed just a win in the season, having played 14 matches. They can only hope week 15 comes with better tidings. Bilbao last won in August. It was a home win and they will be looking to make it two in front of their home fans. Their home form has not been superb in the recent times; they have managed just seven wins in the last 27 league matches at home and for a team that has conceded 23 goals in 14 league matches, they have a long way to go. They face a Girona side that not only has the league’s top scorer in Christian Stuani, but is also undefeated in the last eight matches. They are unbeaten in six league matches, having managed three wins and as many draws. Going to this game, they have managed five league wins in the 14 played and will be seeking their seventh straight unbeaten outing away from home in La Liga, after managing three wins and three draws in the opening six this season, Girona are also unbeaten in their nine away league matches, stretching back to last season. Probably Girona will not lose

Girona or Draw • 1.88

This is a significant game in the context of Athletic’s Bilbao’s season as they welcome Girona to San Mames for a Monday night showdown in La Liga. It’s the first league game for Athletic since they sacked Eduardo Berizzo after last week’s 3-0 defeat at Levante. 7 days on, they’ll be hoping to end a club record winless streak under new boss Gaizka Garitano.

Never before had Athletic gone 13 league games without a win. That was a sequence that ended Berizzo’s tenure, just a few months in. It was the first time in 12 years that Athletic have sacked a coach in the middle of the season and Garitano has a big job on his hands after his promotion from B team boss to take charge of the senior team, which is currently languishing in the bottom three.

This isn’t an easy game to have first up. Girona are impressing under Eusebio and are unbeaten in 8 matches in all competitions heading into this game. Many expected they would struggle following the departure of Pablo Machin to Sevilla and while they have ridden their luck at times, their results largely speak for themselves and they will fancy their chances here.

Certainly Athletic look very short for the win, given their failure to claim victory in La Liga since match-day one. They did win 4-0 at Huesca in the Copa del Rey in midweek in their first game under new management. However they also won 4-0 in the 1st Leg under Berizzo, only to put in an abject 2nd Half showing at Levante last Monday. Confidence levels are clearly fragile in the Athletic camp and the lack of a natural striker is a major cause for concern.

Aritz Aduriz is yet to score in La Liga and looks well past his best now at the age of 37. Inaki Williams meanwhile is more of a natural winger and the only really viable Basque striker option to come in is Fernando Llorente, with a January move now looking ever more likely. It’s ridiculous that La Liga’s top scorer Cristhian Stuani can be backed to score anytime at longer odds here than Williams, who hasn’t netted a home league goal in over two years since scoring against Eibar in December 2016.

Girona will be full of confidence given their current unbeaten streak and they also boast a great away record. They are the only Spanish Primera Division side yet to taste defeat on their travels this term and no side can better their average of 2 points per game away. To top it off, Athletic have three men suspended here, including Yuri and Inigo Martinez, their best two defenders.

Given that, backing Girona Double Chance certainly appeals and they may even have enough to totally ruin Garitano’s first outing at San Mames as Athletic boss.