Athletic Bilbao host Barcelona in a La Liga fixture on Sunday with both teams looking to maintain their recent good form. There appears to be little to separate them at the moment and a closely fought encounter could be on the cards here.
Athletic Bilbao will head into Sunday’s clash in high spirits after beating Atletico Madrid to reach the final of the Copa Del Rey. Having earned a 1-0 win in the first leg, they ran out 3-0 winners in the return fixture on Thursday with Inaki Williams and Nico both on target.
It was a solid return to winning ways for Athletic Bilbao, who were beaten 3-1 at Real Betis in their previous La Liga fixture. That is the only defeat in the last eight matches across all competitions for Ernesto Valverde’s men.
San Mames Barria has been a solid hunting ground for Athletic Bilbao, who are unbeaten in their last 15 home matches across all competitions. They have won the last 10 in that run, with a 4-2 Copa Del Rey victory over Barcelona among their results.
Barcelona are also coming off a hunter as they eased past Getafe 4-0 last time out in La Liga. They had four different goalscorers with Raphina, Joao Felix, Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez all on target.
Sitting third on the standings, eight points off the pace, Barcelona are looking increasingly unlikely to retain their title this season. However, they will be keen to end Xavi’s spell as manager on a high note and are unbeaten in their last six matches.
Barcelona have impressed on their La Liga travels this season and are yet to taste defeat away from home so far. They have actually won their last four away matches, claiming a 2-1 victory at Celta Vigo in their previous fixture on the road.
How the bookies view it
The bookies are expecting a closely fought encounter with a win for Athletic Bilbao priced at 15/8 by bet365 while Unibet is offering 6/4 for a Barcelona victory. A draw is set at odds of 13/5 by William Hill.
Head to head
Barcelona have a 50-14 advantage with 15 draws from 79 previous matches against Athletic Bilbao. The Catalans claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in December while Bilbao triumphed 4-2 in a Copa Del Rey clash in January.
Players to watch
Inaki Williams has been the man in form for Athletic Bilbao in recent weeks, scoring in two the last three matches. The forward is priced at 49/20 by Unibet to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
As always Barcelona will look to Robert Lewandowski to provide the spark in attack having found the net five times in the last five matches. The Polish striker was also on target in the Copa Del Rey clash and is priced at 6/4 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
It was a six goal thriller in the reverse fixture and another high-scoring encounter could be on the cards. Over 3.5 goals is priced at 2/1 by BetVictor, who is also offering 3/4 for over 2.5 goals while both teams could be backed to score at 8/13 with bet365.
There have been more goals after the break in Barcelona’s last five matches and a similar outcome is priced at 21/20 with Betfred.
This La Liga match between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona will be played on Mar 3, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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