Valencia vs Athletic Bilbao prediction 04.02.2026 | Copa del Rey

Valencia have another stressful season. They are only two points ahead of the relegation zone and will have to do much better in the coming months. There was a glimpse of hope among Valencia's fans after three straight wins in the previous few weeks, but last weekend, they lost 2-1 on the road against Betis. Although Los Murciélagos lost, they were even with the hosts most of the match and probably deserved more than a narrow defeat.

After a defeat against Betis, Valencia's head coach, Carlos Corberan, was disappointed. He said, "The result is very painful to take, because we came out with tremendous determination to win the game. As the minutes ticked by, there was a moment when the match was evenly balanced, and in those final minutes it seemed like it could end in a draw or go in either team's favour if they capitalised on a transition or a quick counter-attack. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way."

Mouctar Diakhaby, Thierry Correia, and Julen Agirrezabala are injured and will not play on Wednesday against Athletic Bilbao. Also, Jose Manuel Copete is questionable.

After an outstanding fourth place in La Liga last season, Athletic Bilbao had similar expectations for the current campaign. Still, they are similarly to Valencia much closer to the drop zone than they would desire. Also, Athletic Bilbao are not playing well lately as they won only two of their last nine matches across all competitions. In the previous game, Ernesto Valverde's team played 1-1 at home against Real Sociedad. The hosts were close to another disappointing defeat, but they salvaged one point late in the second half.

Athletic Bilbao didn't lose against Real Sociedad, but the head coach, Ernesto Valverde, was clear that his team didn't have the best performance. He said, "We threw everything at them and got the equaliser. Overall, they played well. We got a point, but it wasn't a brilliant performance from us."

Athletic Bilbao have huge problems with player absences. They will be without Unai Egiluz, Aymeric Laporte, Benat Prados Diaz, Ohian Sancet, Maroan Sannadi, Daniel Vivian, Nico Williams, and Yeray Alvarez are unavailable for the trip to Valencia.