What Athletic Club have put together over the last two league games is hard to ignore. They beat Celta Vigo 2-0 and Atletico Madrid 3-0, with Nico Williams, Robert Navarro and Oihan Sancet on the scoresheet in the latter. Elche arrive for the visit to Athletic Club vs Elche with one point from their opening four matches and 19th place beside their name.
Athletic's recent lift
The 3-0 win over Atletico was the more eye-catching of the two results, and it came with goals spread across three different scorers. That kind of spread is exactly what Athletic want at this stage, because it keeps their attacking load from sitting on one player.
Sports Mole's preview desk put it simply: "Athletic Bilbao will be aiming to make it three straight wins in Spain's top flight when they welcome Elche to San Mames on Saturday evening." The same preview also noted that the Basque side are 10th in La Liga with six points from four matches, while Elche are down in 19th on one point.
Elche and the fixture history
The table gap is only part of the story, though. Athletic have won 24 of their previous 54 matches against Elche, and they also beat them 2-1 in the corresponding fixture last season.
Elche did win 1-0 at San Mames in the 2022-23 campaign, so this is not a fixture Athletic can treat casually. Martin Anselmi's side have already shown enough in the opening weeks to suggest they can make life awkward when the home team are not fully switched on.
The immediate question is whether Athletic carry the same edge from the Celta and Atletico wins into Saturday's home game. Elche's start has been thin, and San Mames has usually leaned Athletic's way.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
