That’s the case
in La Liga this season and on Friday night two teams from the
bottom half, Athletic Club and Espanyol, meet at the New San Mames with the
intention of moving into the top half and pushing for Europe.
The hosts are
currently in 12th place with 33 points and that leaves the only 4 points behind
6th place Sevilla. Espanyol have the same number of points as Athletic Club and
a win would also be a huge boost to their chances of finishing in the top six.
Athletic
Club fell to a 2-0 defeat at Valencia last weekend and missed the
opportunity to get into the top half of the table. Having won their
previous two La Liga games and held Barcelona to a draw, confidence would have
been high but it took a blow at the Mestalla.
Trends show
Athletic Club are tough to beat at home and they are undefeated in their last
eight home La Liga matches. However, four of those games have ended in
draws and if only Athletic Club could have won at least one of those matches,
it would have made a lot of difference to their current position.
They have seen
under 2.5 goals in each of those eight games and Athletic Club have kept a clean
sheet in their last four on home soil.
Espanyol picked
up a good 3-1 win over Real Valladolid last week and that results means they
are undefeated in their last five La Liga games. Only two of those
matches have produced wins, both of which came on home soil and Espanyol have
drawn each of their last two away games in the league.
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