Preview & Prediction: Rayo Vallecano vs Athletic Club Bilbao

In the La Liga encounter on May 25th, 2024, Rayo Vallecano will attempt to break their poor home form streak against Athletic Club Bilbao. The teams have previously faced each other 19 times, and out of these encounters, Rayo has managed just 4 wins while Bilbao has emerged victorious 10 times, and 5 games ended in draws. Their most recent match saw Bilbao clean-sweep Rayo with a decisive 3-0 score.

The average goals scored during clashes between these two teams stand at 2.84 per game, and both teams have scored (BTTS) in 58% of the matches. To notice, Rayo and Bilbao have averaged 1.11 and 1.28 points per game respectively in the current La Liga season till now. With Bilbao’s better performance in away games and Rayo’s struggling home form, expect an interesting clash in the upcoming match.

Insights

• Athletic Club Bilbao has historically performed better in head-to-head matches against Rayo Vallecano, with 10 wins out of 19 meetings, in contrast to Rayo’s four victories.
• The last encounter between the two teams saw a commanding 3 – 0 victory in favor of Athletic Club Bilbao.
• At least one team has scored in 58% of their previous encounters, signifying a high likelihood for BTTS (Both Teams To Score).
• The games between these two teams have seen an average of 2.84 goals, indicating potentially high-scoring matches.
• Despite playing on their home turf, Rayo Vallecano has struggled lately, markedly being in poor form in home matches.
• Conversely, Athletic Club Bilbao exhibits a good form when playing away, scoring an average of 1.28 points per game this season.
• Rayo Vallecano has managed to secure an average of 1.11 points per game in home matches this season, which is lower than Athletic Club Bilbao’s away average, further emphasizing their struggle at home.
• The historical results and current form of the two teams point in favour of an Athletic Club Bilbao victory in the match on 25th May 2024.
• Despite these insights, the unpredictable nature of the sport means there’s always a chance for an upset, particularly if Rayo Vallecano can leverage the home field advantage.

Match Facts

In 16 matches held at Rayo Vallecano’s home ground, Rayo Vallecano emerged victorious 3 times, the game resulted in a draw 6 times, and Athletic Bilbao stole the win 7 times. Goals are leaned towards Athletic Bilbao with a 26-20 difference.

During the 33 encounters between the two, Rayo Vallecano has won 6 times, there were 10 ties and Athletic Bilbao scored 17 victories. Athletic Bilbao also leads in terms of scored goals, with a difference of 59-41.

The last time Rayo Vallecano triumphed over Athletic Bilbao at home was six years ago, in 2014.

In the previous season, the two teams ended in a scoreless match at Rayo Vallecano’s home ground, while Athletic Bilbao bagged a 3-2 victory on their home turf.

Rayo Vallecano showcases their prowess mainly towards the end of the match, scoring 38% of their total goals in minutes 76-90 – the highest percentage in the league, while only a minimal 3% of their goals are scored in the period of 46-60 minutes, the lowest in the league.

Athletic Bilbao, on the other hand, scores 23% of their total goals relatively early in the game, between minutes 16-30.

In the current LaLiga season, Rayo Vallecano has failed to score in 6 of their 18 home matches, while Athletic Bilbao came up short in 7 of their 18 away games.

Rayo Vallecano’s home record for the season is 4 wins, 8 ties, and 6 losses.

With a standout performance, Alvaro Garcia leads Rayo Vallecano in scoring with 6 goals. Athletic Bilbao’s top scorer is Gorka Guruzeta, with 14 goals to his name.

Raul De Tomas leads Rayo Vallecano with 3 goal assists, while Nico Williams leads Athletic Bilbao with 11 assists.

Pathe Ciss, with 10 yellow cards, leads in card accumulation for Rayo Vallecano, while Aitor Paredes leads for Bilbao with 7 yellow cards.

Athletic Bilbao’s scoring streak runs unbroken for 8 consecutive matches.

Rayo Vallecano emerges victorious in the first half in 20% of their matches, whereas Athletic Bilbao does so in 47% of theirs.

Their previous encounter resulted in a substantial win for Athletic Bilbao by 4 goals.

If Rayo Vallecano takes an early 1-0 lead when playing at home, they stand a 44% chance of winning. When Athletic Bilbao leads 0-1 away, they have a 68% winning probability. However, when Rayo Vallecano is down 0-1 at home, they can only overturn the score 12% of the time. When Athletic Bilbao is trailing 1-0 away, they have never managed to secure a win.

LaLiga performance metrics put Rayo Vallecano ahead of Athletic Bilbao, this result factors in both teams last 5 games.

Athletic Bilbao has a compelling record, losing just a single game out of their last 5 encounters with Rayo Vallecano across all competitions.

The last five confrontations between the two teams resulted in a single win for Rayo Vallecano, three victories for Athletic Bilbao, and one draw.

Just like the overall score, Athletic Bilbao has lost only one out of their last five LaLiga matches against Rayo Vallecano, while Rayo Vallecano has only been able to secure one win.

On average, Rayo Vallecano scores 0.8 goals against Athletic Bilbao, who score higher at an average of 1.8 goals against Rayo Vallecano.

The meetings between Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Bilbao yield an average of 2.6 goals, with 1.6 goals being the average for the first half.

Playing at home, Rayo Vallecano scores 1.05 goals on average, while Athletic Bilbao scores slightly higher at 1.18 goals when playing away.

Even though Rayo Vallecano has put up a better show in the last 5 LaLiga matches, Athletic Bilbao’s overall performance in LaLiga surpasses that of Rayo Vallecano.