Athletic Bilbao will be looking to return to winning ways in La Liga when they make the trip to Coliseum Alfonso Perez to face Getafe on Tuesday night.
The visitors will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Atletico Madrid, while Getafe played out a goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano in their last match.
Match preview
© Reuters
Getafe have won two, drawn two and lost five of their nine league matches this season to collect eight points, which has left them in 16th position in the table, two points above the relegation zone.
The Deep Blue Ones won back-to-back matches against Real Sociedad and Osasuna in the middle of September before losing to Real Valladolid and Real Madrid in their first two games of October.
The point against Rayo Vallecano on Friday was a step in the right direction, and they have another three games to come before the end of the month, also taking on Celta Vigo and Elche before beginning November at home to Cadiz.
Quique Sanchez Flores's side are in their sixth straight campaign at this level of football, finishing eighth, fifth and eighth between 2018 and 2020, but they have been 15th in the last two seasons, and it will be interesting to see what the team can achieve this term.
Getafe have only actually lost once to Athletic in the league since January 2016, and three of the last four top-flight meetings between the two sides have finished all square.
© Reuters
Athletic have enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign, winning five, drawing two and losing two of their nine matches to collect 17 points, which has left them in fifth position in the table.
The Basque outfit are only two points behind third-placed Atletico, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Diego Simeone's side on Saturday, with Antoine Griezmann scoring the only goal of the match in the 47th minute.
The loss was Athletic's first since the start of September, and Ernesto Valverde's side will be looking to bounce back on Tuesday evening, especially as their next fixture after this one is away to Barcelona.
The Lions, who have won La Liga on eight occasions in their history, have been eighth, 11th, 10th and eighth in their last four campaigns at this level, but they finished fourth in 2013-14 and are certainly outsiders for a possible Champions League spot this term.
As mentioned, Athletic have found it difficult to get the better of Getafe in recent years, and they have not managed to overcome the Deep Blue Ones away from home in the league since 2016, which is an indication of the size of their task in this particular match.
Team News
© Reuters
Getafe's squad is in strong shape at the moment, with Mauro Arambarri remaining their only fitness doubt ahead of Tuesday's contest with Athletic.
As a result, it is expected to be the same squad that was available against Rayo, and it might well be the same starting XI here, with Enes Unal and Borja Mayoral featuring as the front two.
Head coach Sanchez does have plenty of options for change, with Portu and Jaime Mata among those pushing for spots in the side, but there are unlikely to be any alterations in the forward areas.
As for Athletic, Yuri Berchiche remains on the sidelines through injury, but the squad will be boosted by the return of Ander Herrera from suspension.
Valverde is expected to resist the temptation to make changes from the side that started against Atletico, so Oihan Sancet and Mikel Vesga should again line up in central midfield.
The front four picks itself, meanwhile, with Nico Williams, Iker Muniain and Alex Berenguer set to support Inaki Williams at centre-forward.
Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Dakonam, Mitrovic, Duarte, Angileri; Maksimovic, Milla, Alena; Mayoral, Unal
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Yeray, I Martinez, Lekue; Sancet, Vesga; N Williams, Muniain, Berenguer; I Williams
We say: Getafe 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
On paper, Athletic are the favourites here, but it is difficult to ignore their recent struggles against Getafe when picking a result. The Basque outfit will be determined to return to winning ways, but we are backing Getafe to secure a share of the spoils on Tuesday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
