Athletic Bilbao Eyes Third Straight Win Against Struggling Elche
San Mamés expects noise, intensity and, if recent form is any guide, another step forward from an Athletic Bilbao side starting to gather speed.
Edin Terzic’s team sit 9th in La Liga with six points on the board and a statement win already in their pocket. Last time out they dismantled Atlético de Madrid 3-0, a result that did more than just add three points – it sharpened the feeling that this group is beginning to click.
Now comes a very different test. Elche CF arrive with only one point, 19th in the table and carrying the weight of three straight defeats. The contrast in mood between the two camps could hardly be starker.
Fortress San Mamés vs fragile Elche
Athletic walk into the weekend on a run of two games unbeaten, both victories. The confidence from that Atlético performance will spill straight into the stands. Unai Simón behind Aymeric Laporte and Yeray Álvarez gives Terzic a solid spine, with Yuri Berchiche and Jesús Areso offering width and aggression from full-back.
Ahead of them, Iñigo de Galarreta and Benat Gerenabarrena provide control, while Robert Navarro and Oihan Sancet link midfield to the Williams brothers – Nico and Iñaki – who stretch and tear at back lines with pace and direct running. That XI, which brushed aside Atlético, looks settled and sharp.
Athletic will be without Unai Egiluz, sidelined with a cruciate ligament tear, but the core of the side is intact and in rhythm. At home, with San Mamés driving them on, they will expect to dictate.
Elche, by contrast, travel with numbers that tell their own story. Two away games without a win. Four consecutive matches conceding goals. Four without victory overall. Three defeats in a row coming into this one. Martín Anselmi has problems to solve, and quickly.
Elche searching for a foothold
The visitors’ last outing summed up their early-season turbulence: a 3-2 defeat to Real Sociedad that exposed both their vulnerability and their flickers of attacking threat. Matías Dituro started in goal, protected by Buba Sangaré, Víctor Chust, Pedro Bigas and Tete Morente across the back line.
In midfield, Facundo Buonanotte, Germán Valera, Gonzalo Villar and Javi Morcillo tried to stitch play together, with Fer Niño and Ezequiel Ponce up front. They scored twice, but they conceded three. The pattern has become familiar.
Anselmi’s task at San Mamés is brutal but clear: tighten a defence that has not kept a clean sheet in four games, without blunting what attacking edge his side still shows. Against an Athletic team in full flow, any lapse is likely to be punished.
History leans red and white
Recent history between these two also leans towards the Basques. The last meeting ended 2-1 to Athletic, and with the hosts now on the back of two straight wins, that trend feels significant.
Elche, though, are already staring at the wrong end of the table. A point here would not transform their season, but it might stop the slide and give Anselmi something to build on.
Athletic have the form, the momentum and the crowd. Elche bring urgency, maybe even a hint of desperation. One side is climbing, the other trying to stop the fall. Which force wins out at San Mamés this weekend will say plenty about where both seasons are heading.
