PREVIEW | Girona vs Athletic Bilbao – team news, lineups, predictions

Montilivi prepares for a mid-table La Liga duel on Saturday as Girona welcome Athletic Bilbao for match-week 28, a fixture that could nudge either side closer to the comfort zone before the season’s final stretch.

Girona, 15th with 31 points, are looking for a first win in four after last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Levante. Míchel’s men have at least found the net in five straight league outings and have scored in each of their last four home games, but a leaky back line has conceded in seven consecutive matches. Their recent home form offers encouragement: only two defeats in their last ten at the Estadio Municipal de Montilivi.

Athletic Bilbao arrive in Catalonia 10th on 35 points, yet the Lions are growling more than roaring of late. Ernesto Valverde’s team have taken one point from the last nine available, have lost back-to-back games and have not kept a clean sheet in 17 league fixtures. On the road it is ten matches since they last prevented an opponent from scoring, and they have failed to win their last two away assignments.

The most recent meeting ended 1-1, part of an 11-game head-to-head record that favours the Basques: five wins to Girona’s four, with two draws. At Montilivi, however, Girona hold the edge, winning three of five previous clashes.

Míchel and Valverde know each other well. Across nine encounters Míchel has three wins, two draws and four losses; Valverde, meanwhile, has faced Girona 11 times, winning five, drawing three and losing three.

Team news is shaped largely by last week’s selections. Girona are expected to stick with the XI that started at Levante: Paulo Gazzaniga in goal; a back four of Hugo Rincón, Vitor Reis, Daley Blind and Arnau Martínez; Axel Witsel and Fran Beltrán anchoring midfield; Viktor Tsygankov, Thomas Lemar and Claudio Echeverri providing creativity behind striker Vladyslav Vanat.

Athletic Bilbao should likewise be unchanged from the side that pushed Barcelona hard. Unai Simón will be shielded by Andoni Gorosabel, Aymeric Laporte, Dani Vivian and Adama Boiro, with Mikel Jauregizar and Alejandro Rego in the engine room. Álex Berenguer, Selton Sánchez and Unai Gómez are set to support captain Iñaki Williams up front.

With both defences vulnerable, goals look likely. Girona’s ability to score at home and Bilbao’s long-run inability to keep a clean sheet suggest the hosts can find a way through, but Valverde’s side possess the quality to punish any slip. A high-scoring draw feels the most probable outcome, yet either club would view three points as a springboard with ten games remaining.