Terzic doubts Guruzeta and Yuri while Athletic prepares in Lezama for the Anoeta derby
On Saturday morning, Athletic Club meets in Lezama while coach Edin Terzic still does not know whether he will be able to count on Gorka Guruzeta and Yuri Berchiche for the upcoming Basque derby at Anoeta stadium. Both players remain isolated from the squad and their injuries are still unclear.
Injuries keeping Guruzeta and Berchiche out
Guruzeta finished the last match against Deportivo Alavés with discomfort in his left groin and, since then, has not trained with his teammates; the club has also not released a medical report. The next session will be the window to assess his progress.
Berchiche, for his part, suffered a right hamstring injury that kept him out of the fixtures against Elche and Alavés. When he seemed recovered, he felt discomfort again and will also miss the derby. The likely replacement will be Maroan Sannadi.
Absent internationals and attacking options
Terzic is already certain that he will not be able to count on internationals Unai Simón, Aymeric Laporte, Nico Williams, Álex Padilla, Álvaro Djaló nor the injured Unai Egiluz for the match at Anoeta.
In attack, Guruzeta, Sannadi and Iñaki are the three forwards who have yet to score in LaLiga. Their shot averages are 0.5, 0.7 and 0.0 per game respectively, and together they have zero goals and only two assists.
Derby context and upcoming commitments
The derby will be Terzic's first Basque clash since his arrival in Bilbao, and the final against Real Sociedad will be played on October 2 at 19:00 at Anoeta, also as a tribute to Mikel Etxarri.
Athletic returns to league action on Saturday 10 in Vallecas, where the lions have eight points and one match pending, the one postponed due to bad weather against Levante.