2023/24				Overall									Home						Away
				P	W	D	L	F	A	Gdf	Pts	Form	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
	1		Real Madrid	25	19	5	1	53	16	+37	62	XWXW	12	10	2	0	30	7	13	9	3	1	23	9
	2		Girona	24	17	5	2	52	29	+23	56	LOWW	12	9	2	1	30	14	12	8	3	1	22	15
	3		Barcelona	25	16	6	3	52	34	+18	54	WXWW	13	9	1	3	28	19	12	7	5	0	24	15
	4		Atlético Madrid	25	16	3	6	50	26	+24	51	WLXW	13	12	1	0	32	12	12	4	2	6	18	14
	5		Athletic Bilbao	24	13	7	4	42	21	+21	46	OWOL	12	9	2	1	31	12	12	4	5	3	11	9
	6		Real Sociedad	25	10	10	5	34	23	+11	40	WLOO	12	5	5	2	18	12	13	5	5	3	16	11

 

Girona have been, along with Brest in Ligue 1, the major surprise packages amongst the Big 5 leagues in Europe. They were only promoted in 2022 and after finishing 6th in Segunda then overachieved, or so we believed, to finish 10th last season, their first back in the top flight, although xP placed them 9th, so they were top half on merit. They are owned by the (Manchester) City group and it is still unsure if they would be allowed to play in the Champions League alongside the EPL club were they to qualify. Anyway, 56 points is a ridiculous total and 7 more than they managed all last season ( 38 games). They have hit a bump in the road in the last four weeks losing to Mallorca (16th in La Liga) in the Copa and failing to score in their last two league games a 0-0 home draw with Sociedad and 4-0 defeat at Real Madrid. XP actually suggests that this time round they have overachieved to the tune of 18 points and places them 6-7 points behind and not 10 ahead of Athletic. 

 

The Basque team have not conceded in their last three league games and have posted big Copa wins over Barcelona and Atletico Madrid (on the road) in the Copa, all in the last month. With a six point advantage over Sociedad in 6th it feels like they are freerolling today with nothing much to lose but a real chance to get into the top 4 discussion. The win would see them close to within 2 points of Atletico, but perhaps just as importantly only 7 behind Girona. Athletic have not lost at home since opening day ( Real Madrid) and are subsequently 11-2-0 at San Mames, scoring 37 goals, 2+ in 12 of 13.

 

Girona will be without suspended RB and Man City loanee Yan Couto and Athletic pose a big threat down that flank, especially through Nico Williams ( 3 goals 7 assists).

 

 

 

Good luck!