Next Sunday, 2nd of November 2014, a mighty and dangerous Sevilla will travel to the Basque Country to go head-to-head with Athletic Bilbao at the Cathedral San Mamés for round ten of the Spanish Liga BBVA, on a match where the visitors will surely put in their best efforts to maintain their position at the top of the table, despite the fierce opposition they will face from the locals.

After a hard earned win last weekend against Villarreal at Sánchez Pizjuán, Sevilla continued their excellent recent result streak by smashing the modest Sabadell 6-1 on a Copa del Rey match last Wednesday. Unai Emery’s boys have been going through a very positive moment, both domestically and internationally, after putting last month’s heavy defeat at Vicente Calderón behind their backs.

Last weekend, Sevilla emerged victorious from a frantic match against Villarreal at the emblematic Sánchez Pizjuán and once again proved that the team has grew considerably from one season to the other. The current UEFA Europa League holders have a different game style than the previous campaign, especially when playing home, where they tend to produce a considerable amount of goal chances and an almost asphyxiating attacking game.

The Andalusian team are currently siding with the same points of Barcelona at the top of La Liga’s table and, although it is still too early to point them as title contenders, the truth is they don’t appear to be, by any means, inferior to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atlético Madrid.

As for Athletic, things are not so bright as for their next weekend’s opponents. Bilbao have been having a fairly disappointing season so far, as they have only managed to win two of the nine league matches they were involved in. At the 15th place of the table, just three points clear from the relegation line, Athletic cannot allow any more slip-ups and, for that reason, the match against Sevilla is of the utmost importance for the team.

Ernesto Valverde’s boys have been experiencing some colossal difficulties to convert chances into goals this season, as they have only netted in six goals in nine matches thus far, half of them by the hand of Aduriz.

Despite playing home, it is a bit farfetched to offer Athletic some favouritism for next Sunday’s clash. On the other hand, if Sevilla manage to replicate some of their recent top performances, they should snatch the three points without any major difficulties.

Athletic Bilbao

Stats: W-1 L-3 D-1

Recent Form - WLDLL

Sevilla

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

Recent Form - WWDWW

Possible Line-ups

Athletic Bilbao (4-2-3-1) - Iraizoz - de Marcos - Etxeita- Laporte - Balenziaga - Iturraspe - M. Rico - Muniain - Beñat - Susaeta - Aduriz

Sevilla (4-4-1-1) - Beto  - Coke - Pareja - Carriço - Tremoulinas - Krychowiak - Denis Suárez - Mbia - Deulofeu - Banega- Bacca

Prediction

Athletic 1 Sevilla 2