This week will also be full of football events. They will play most actively on Wednesday evening, mainly in the knockout format. Spain will not stay on the sidelines, where the 1/8 finals of the Copa del Rey are played. Pairings are mostly quite interesting, and among them there will be a duel between Athletic and Espanyol. “Basques” vs the representative of Catalonia – what will we see in Bilbao? The website’s journalists wrote a prediction and an announcement for the match on January 18, 2023.
Athletic could make big gains this season
“Basques” are ambitious by definition, but this is connected with faithfulness to their breeding traditions. As a result, it is difficult to show something, and Marcelino managed to win the trophy in the form of the Spanish Super Cup anyway. But after such a successful start, he could not develop further successes. No wonder last summer the San Mames were tempted by the possibility of signing Valverde. Ernesto had a great start, after a long break he was in the top four. It was only in the winter that they were only 0-0 with Betis and Osasuna. The direct rival in the dispute for a place in the “Champions League zone”, Real Sociedad, lost 1: 3. And how to treat the cup in such a situation?
Espanyol did not live up to expectations
“Parrots” are not devoid of ambition. And although they had to spend the penultimate temporade in Segunda, after returning to Example they were not satisfied with only the 14th place. And they called Diego Martinez Penas who “scored” in Granada. But with him, it very rarely turns out to win, which returns to persecution, despite the small number of defeats. And only a long winning streak saves the coach from quitting. More important was 2:1 in the last round on the Getafe pitch.
Previous matches
Athletic went on a 5-match unbeaten streak. But in September, thanks to Brethwaite’s only goal, Espanyol won at San Mames.
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Match prediction
Athletic is considered the clear favorite for the duel. But here both teams can win, so let’s stop at “over 2.5 goals in total” (odds – 2.07).
Free Athletic Espanyol match prediction on January 18:
Forecast author: