All is Not Lost for Girona in the La Liga Title Race

Athletic Bilbao vs Girona

Girona must regain their bearings as soon as possible when they visit San Mames on Monday.

The surprise package of the 2023-24 campaign was given a harsh reality check by the defending La Liga champions, suffering a 4-0 drubbing at the Bernabeu to now trail by five points in the title race, and now they’re set to take on another formidable opponent in Athletic Bilbao.

Athletic Bilbao, on the other hand, have a top four spot in their sights, and they’re not stopping until they finally get it. They’ve had a mixed bag of La Liga 2024 results lately, but Los Leones are still in good shape, sitting in fifth place with 46 points.

Other than the fans in San Mames on Monday, Real Madrid supporters in particular will also watch this game with great interest.

Talking Points

Williams brothers need to get going for Athletic Bilbao

Nico and Inaki Williams have yet to score a league goal since the start of the year, and that needs to change in order for Athletic Bilbao to stay in the top four hunt.

Inaki Williams was not with the team last month because he was playing for Ghana in the AFCON, which were eliminated early in the group stage. But his run was rather anonymous since he was unable to score a goal in the continental tournament, so he will look to regain his form with Los Leones.

Still, Inaki Williams remains the second-leading scorer for Athletic Bilbao with eight goals, while Nico Williams is in fourth with three goals and six assists.

All in all, Athletic Bilbao must find their consistency in the final third since their production there has been up-and-down. Although they managed to score a total of six league goals so far this year, they were held scoreless in three of their last five league matches.

Alex Berenguer and Yuri Berchiche have scored two goals each, while Gorka Guruzeta and Iker Munlain have scored one goal each in this period.

Blind and Herrera are back for Girona, while Michel is not

A key reason why Girona lost against Real Madrid last week is because they were without Daley Blind and Yangel Herrera, two of their most influential players, as well as their head coach Michel.

Michel has been hit by a two-match suspension and was fined €600 because he was sent off in the 88^th minute against Real Sociedad due to dissent, while Blind and Herrera were also sidelined for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Assistant manager Salva will continue to lead the touchline for Girona sans Michel. Blind should link up with Eric Garcia again at centre-half, while Herrera could replace Ivan Martin in midfield.

Yangel Herrera is currently the team’s joint-fourth-leading scorer with four goals, while Blind has also managed to record one goal and two assists this season. More importantly, the two of them add much-needed toughness to the starting XI.

History

Athletic Bilbao and Girona shared the spoils during their first league meeting this season, as Viktor Tsyhankov and Inaki Williams both scored within a span of 13 minutes in the second half for a 1-1 draw on November 28^th.

Los Leones haven’t won any of their last three encounters with the Gironistes in La Liga (D1, L2) after having won three of their first four league meetings (L1).

Moreover, Ernesto Valverde’s side could become the third team to take points in their two league meetings with Girona this season on Monday, with Real Madrid (W2) and Real Sociedad (D2) being the other two teams to do so.

For the first time this season, Girona haven’t won in the last two La Liga matches (D1, L1), failing to score in both, which says a lot about how good they have been in the last few months.

Betting Tip

The La Liga 2024 odds here at SBOTOP have Girona getting back on the winning track on Monday, as they’re priced at 1.97, while Athletic Bilbao are at 3.37, and a draw is at 3.36 in the 1X2 market.

Just like in their reverse fixture, there should be enough goals to go around for this contest, making alternative bets like Total Goal 2-3 at 1.96 and Over 2.75 at 1.93 viable.

But while we believe that Girona will win, a draw is not out of the question for this contest, given the collective talent between these two squads.

So, if you’re going for a stalemate, then check out Correct Scores of 1-1 and 2-2 since they’re on offer at 6.80 and 13.50, respectively.

 

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