Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol
Spanish La Liga
Date: Tuesday, 4th March 2017
Kick-off at 18:30 UK/ 19:30 CET
Venue: San Mames, Bilbao.
The Spanish La Liga fixture between Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol on 4th April is extremely important for the two teams involved. This is a battle for Europa League qualification places as these two teams are positioned just below top 6 places in the league table.
Bilbao are 7th in the league table, with a 2-point gap with Villarreal and Real Sociedad above them. Meanwhile, Espanyol are 9th, 2 points behind Bilbao and 5 point below the Europa League zone. Both teams will be eyeing 3 points to get ahead in the race for continental football next season.
Athletic Club Bilbao
Athletic Club are coming on the back of a 2-1 away win at Osasuna, registering their 4th win in 5 matches. The lone defeat during the time came at home against Real Madrid just before the international break.
Only Real Madrid have a better home record than Bilbao in the La Liga this season. They share the second spot in this aspect with 33 points, same as Barcelona and Sevilla.
They lost just twice during the 15 home matches this season with the defeats coming against Barcelona and Real Madrid. While the remaining 13 matches produced 10 wins and 3 draws. This certainly means that Ernesto Valverde knows how to make the home advantage count on most occasions.
RCD Espanyol
Espanyol extended their unbeaten run to three matches by edging past Real Betis by a 2-1 margin at home. They picked up 3 wins and 2 draws from their last six matches, making them the fifth best team in terms of form during the period. Quique Sánchez Flores will be worried about the defending after seeing his team concede 9 goals from the last 5.
However, Espanyol struggle at large in away games. They are currently without a win in the last four with 2 wins and 2 losses. Moreover, they tasted victory just once in the last 8 outings, 3 draws and 4 losses.
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Head-to-head
The teams settled for a goal-less draw when they met at Espanyol’s home ground on November 2016.
They share 2 wins each from the last four La Liga meetings.
Eleven of the last 13 league meetings between these two sides have seen 3 or more goals, with both teams scoring in 10 of them.
At the San Mames, Bilbao have a mediocre record against Espanyol. They won the latest two La Liga meetings here, while losing in the previous two. Espanyol were win-less in their previous 11 visits, but managed 6 draws while losing in 6.
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Predictions
The home versus away form does matter here. Bilbao are almost unbeatable at the San Mames, while Espanyol are a poor away side. Coupled this with the good h2h record at home, Bilbao could edge a win here.
Regardless of the playing venue, the matches between these sides had no shortage of goals. Therefore, both teams to score and over 2.5 goals bet is worth a shot.
Meanwhile, I leave you with my correct score prediction of a 3-1 win in favour of the home side, priced at 15.00 with Bet365.
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol: Bet Tips
Over 2.5 goals at 2.05
BTTS and Bilbao to win at 3.75
