Class-wise Bilbao side are somewhere 6th-10th with optimal lineups, Alaves are a relegation candidate somewhere at 15th rank, but the performances of Bilbao have not really convinced me yet and they have goal-scoring problems. Let us take a look at their season so far:

7 matches played, 2 wins. Apart from the comfortable win over promoted Mallorca side all the other games have been typically matches where one goal decides. The only time they really looked good was the home match v Barcelona, but was it only a start of Barcelona bubble bursting? Last round they conceded a late equalizer away at Valencia, the round before a late losing goal by brilliant Falcao.

They have suffered from injuries and the situation is improving, but Nuñez, Yuri, Nolaskoin and especially striker Villalibre is still out, and it means that the clumsy veteran striker Raul Gracia keeps his place along with Iñaki Williams, who is set to play his 203rd consecutive match in La Liga! Too bad that his fitness does not show in the goal scoring charts, there is no evidence that he will ever become a real attacking threat, and that is unfortunately true with most of the team, they are not very clinical in finishing.

Alaves started the season with 5 straight losses, most of them more than deserved.

Everyone - including me - was expecting a 6th one in a row and eventually the firing of the coach Calleja, but he pulled a rabbit out of his hat for the Atletico - game, changed the formation to a 5-man defense and voilá, they won desevedly and gave Atletico only one good goal scoring chance in the game!

Alaves are another team hit by injuries, but tonight no one is definitely out and Calleja is likely to continue with the personnel and strategy that worked so well.

Attacking-wise Alaves still have very little to offer. It is set pieces, and it is the big man Joselu who is the likeliest of score if anyone is, but if the defense works as well as last time they have a decent chance to keep Bilbao under a one goal worth of goal expectation, and it gives them a decent chance for a point or even three!

0-0 my guess, local media expects the lineups shown below.