Espanyol vs Athletic Club Prediction: Another Athletic card for Clemens

Espanyol's winless run in La Liga was extended to an 18th game (D6, L12) with a 2-1 defeat at Sevilla last Saturday, and they are now level on points with 18th-placed Girona and could be in the relegation zone by the end of Wednesday.

Their opponents at the RCDE Stadium on Wednesday (18:00 BST), Athletic Club, lost 1-0 at home to Valencia on Sunday, leaving the Bilbao club with work to do in order to qualify for European football next season. Below are my Espanyol vs Athletic Club predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

English winger Tyrhys Dolan, who opened the scoring in last Saturday's defeat at Sevilla, will serve a one-game suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards, as will Spanish defender Fernando Calero.

Espanyol are also missing Javi Puado due to a knee injury, while there are doubts over the availability of Napoli loanee Cyril Ngonge, who is suffering with a knee problem himself.

Football Odds

Nico Williams was forced off with a muscular problem in Athletic Club's 1-0 home defeat to Valencia last Sunday; he's likely to be replaced in the starting XI by his older brother, Inaki.

Benat Prados (knee), Aymeric Laporte and Oihan Sancet (both unspecified) are all doubtful of featuring for Ernesto Valverde's side at the RCDE Stadium.

Espanyol vs Athletic Club Odds

Espanyol, whose last win in any competition was their 2-1 victory over Athletic Club at the San Mames on 22 December, are 8/5 to do the double over the Basque club, with the visitors 13/8, or a 38.1% chance, to exact revenge, and the draw offered at 23/10.

Athletic Bilbao to Win & Both Teams to Score has been boosted from 9/2 to 11/2.

Player to Receive a Card - Clemens Riedel (ESP) @ 5/2

With Calero suspended, opportunity knocks for German defender Clemens Riedel, who last featured as a late substitute in Espanyol's 1-0 loss at Rayo Vallecano on 23 April, and last started in their goalless draw at Real Betis on 4 April.

The 22-year-old was booked in that stalemate in Sevilla, which was his second yellow card in the space of three games, and fifth for the league season, despite only starting 14 times, with a further four substitute appearances.

Today's Football Fixtures

Riedel has committed 22 fouls in La Liga, averaging 1.6 per 90, and he was booked in December's 2-1 defeat at Athletic's San Mames, despite only coming on in the 83rd minute.

At 5/2, he looks great value in the Player to Receive a Card market on Wednesday, with the likes of Gorka Guruzeta and Robert Navarro, averaging 1.2 and 1.3 fouls won per 90, respectively, in La Liga this season, sure to pose him problems at the RCDE Stadium.

Team With Most Shots - Espanyol @ 5/6

Espanyol have taken the most shots in their last four home games, outshooting Real Madrid 17-16 in their 2-0 defeat to Los Blancos last time out at the RCDE Stadium earlier this month.

Athletic have recorded the most efforts at goal in their last two away matches, but the most recent of those was a 4-2 win at Alaves where four of their nine shots, and two of their goals, came from Nico Williams, who is ruled out of Wednesday's game.

Espanyol will be desperate to secure a long-awaited win to ease their relegation worries, and I see Manolo Gonzalez's side going all out for the three points, shooting at every opportunity.