Valencia vs Athletic: Aguirre’s Mestalla debut for matchday 9

Valencia CF host Athletic Club on Saturday, October 17 at 21:00 in Mestalla for matchday 9 of LaLiga EA Sports, with Javier Aguirre making his debut as Valencia’s manager. The clash is also important for Athletic, who arrive after four weeks without playing due to a postponement of their last match against Rayo.

Valencia come into the game with a rough run at home: they haven’t won any of their last four league matches in Mestalla, and they’ve lost three in a row. They only managed four straight home defeats in Primera once before, in September 2016 under Pako Ayestarán.

Athletic, meanwhile, are more steady, with four consecutive LaLiga games without defeat, and they’ve improved in Mestalla recently—three wins in their last seven visits. Still, the recent head-to-head in Valencia’s stadium favours the hosts, who won the last two league meetings played there.

How to watch

If Iñaki Williams plays, he would match Txetxu Rojo as the Athletic player with the most LaLiga appearances, on 414.