Cadiz vs Athletic Bilbao – Preview, H2H, Line-ups, Prediction | La Liga 2022-23

Spain's La Liga sets protocols for the return of fans
Spain's La Liga sets protocols for the return of fans

Athletic Bilbao will travel to Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla on Monday to face Cadiz in the third round of the 2022/23 La Liga season.

Venue: Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla (Cadiz)

Key Statistics

Cadiz have lost their opening two games of the season without scoring a goal.

The hosts have won just one of their last five league games played at home (D1, L3). 

Athletic Bilbao have kept two clean sheets in their opening two league games. 

They are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 matches played on a Monday (W10, D4), and all four of the draws during that time finished goalless.

Head to head

Athletic Club have nine wins in their last 14 meetings with Cadiz (L5).

Latest performances in all competition

Cadiz: L-L-L-L-L

Athletic Bilbao: W-D-D-W-W

Cadiz 

After securing their top-flight status on the last day of last season, Cadiz seems to be back in another relegation fight this season.

The hosts have opened their La Liga account for the new season with two straight losses against Real Sociedad and Osasuna. They failed to score in those games, extending their games without a goal to three games after they ended their pre-season tour with a 1-0 loss to Sevilla.

Head coach Sergio González will be losing sleep over how he will turn his sides’ fortunes around for the better. He will have to get a point in this game without the services of Tomaš Alarcón who was shown a red card in their 2-0 defeat at Osasuna last time out.

The suspension of the attacker comes at the wrong time as Cádiz desperately try to reinforce their attack before the window imminently slams shut. They will need to produce their best performance of the season to stand a chance in this game given that they have conceded seven goals in two home head-to-head meetings since their most recent promotion.

Possible Cadiz starting line-up

Jeremias Ledesma; Carlos Akapo, Luis Hernandez, Victor Chust, Alphonso Espino; Ivan Alejo, San Emeterio, Ruben Alcarez, Oussama Idrissi; Alvaro Negredo, Antony Lozano. 

Injured: Carcelen Valencia, Varazdat Haroyan, Florin Andone

Doubtful: None 

Suspended: Tomás Alarcón 

Athletic Bilbao

While their hosts have struggled this term, Athletic Bilbao have begun their season on a positive note.

The visitors have taken four points from their opening two games courtesy of a draw in their opening game followed by a 1-0 win over Valencia last time out. And so they come into this tie as one of the three La Liga teams yet to concede a goal in the league this season.

However, while they are tight at the back, they have proven to be inefficient in attack as they have scored just one goal this season. Only once in the last six games did they score more than one goal in a league game.

And so, head coach Ernesto Valverde will have to find the right balance between attack and defence if he wants to lead Bilboa into the top six places of the league table this season. 

Possible Athletic Bilbao starting line-up

Unai Simon; Oscar de Marcos, Daniel Vivian, Inigo Martinez, Mikel Balenziaga; Nico Williams, Dani Garcia, Mikel Vesga, Mikel Vesga, Iker Mûnein; Raul Garcia, Inaki Williams.

Injured: Asier Villalibre, Inigo Lekue

Suspended: None 

Prediction

Cadiz 0-1 Athletic Bilbao