🏏 Sat, 19 Sep 2026 16:15 CEST
Athletic Club
vs
Deportivo Alavés
4-2-3-1 vs 5-3-2
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- Tenth-placed Athletic Club (2W 1D 2L from five games, 7 points, +1) host sixth-placed Alaves (3W 1D 2L from six, 10 points, +5) in an all-Basque fixture. Athletic have a match in hand, so victory would lift them straight into the chasing pack: from Atletico Madrid in fourth on 13 down to Real Sociedad in 13th on 7, ten clubs are covered by six points. Barcelona lead on 18 from six. The sides have not met yet this season.
- Athletic's campaign has swung wildly. They lost 2-0 at Barcelona on the opening weekend and 3-1 at home to Sevilla in round two, then won 2-0 away at Celta Vigo and thrashed Atletico Madrid 3-0 at home in round four. A 1-1 home draw with Elche last time out cost them ground again, and home consistency is the obvious issue.
- Alaves have gone the other way. Wins over Villarreal (1-0) and Osasuna (5-2) at home in rounds three and four had them climbing, but they then lost 2-1 at Racing Santander and 1-0 at home to Valencia. Eleven goals in six games says the attack works; halting a two-match losing run on the road is the task.
- The shape battle is Athletic's 4-2-3-1 against a 5-3-2 from Alaves. The visiting back five runs from Morocco international Abdelkabir Rebbach (28), a Vitoria-raised winger promoted through the club's feeder side San Ignacio, to Argentine right-back Nahuel Tenaglia (30), a former Talleres regular. In between sit Boca-schooled left-footed centre-back Nicolas Valentini (25), Finland international Ville Koski (24) and the genuinely two-footed Jonny (32), who spent years at Celta and Wolves and has been capped by Spain.
- That back five will be stretched from the left. Nico Williams (24, 181cm) is right-footed but operates off the left flank, where his one-v-one dribbling is close to unplayable; he scored in the EURO 2024 final and was named player of the tournament. Ahead of him leads 32-year-old captain Inaki Williams, holder of LaLiga's consecutive-appearance record, whose pace and pressing from the front push defences backwards.
- There is a reunion waiting on the home bench. Maroan Sannadi (25, 192cm), a Morocco international, previously belonged to Deportivo Alaves and pushed for the Primera Federacion scoring title during a loan at Barakaldo. If Athletic need to attack a five-man defence through the air, he is the obvious first change.
- The midfields contrast sharply. Athletic pair 22-year-old Mikel Jauregizar with 33-year-old Ruiz de Galarreta, a well-travelled passer who came up through Mallorca, Las Palmas, Leganes and Zaragoza, behind 188cm Oihan Sancet and Robert Navarro (24), who passed through Barcelona, Monaco and Real Sociedad academies and still holds Monaco's youngest-debutant record. Alaves use a three of Pablo Ibanez (27), an Osasuna academy product built on ball-winning, Guevara (29), an Alaves youth graduate who won the Copa del Rey with Real Sociedad before returning, and Uruguayan Carlos Benavidez (28, 185cm).
- Alaves start two experienced forwards. Marko Diaz (33) won the Champions League and LaLiga at Real Madrid and later played for Lyon and Sevilla, while Lucas Boye (30) lifted the Copa Libertadores with River Plate and has LaLiga mileage with Elche and Granada, leading the press from the front. They face Aymeric Laporte (32, 189cm), the left-footed EURO 2024 winner who claimed Premier League and Champions League titles at Manchester City, academy product Aitor Paredes (26, 186cm) and Spain's first-choice goalkeeper Unai Simon (29, 190cm).
- Both benches carry weight. Athletic hold back Alex Berenguer (31), a veteran of Torino and Osasuna, left-footed Nico Serrano (23), who has scored in the Champions League against Atalanta, and right-back Jesus Areso (27), an 86-game LaLiga performer with Osasuna brought back for a €12m release clause in summer 2025. Alaves counter with Denis Suarez (30), formerly of Barcelona and Arsenal, La Masia-schooled left-footer Carles Alena (28) and 187cm target man Toni Martinez (29), who spent four years at Porto.