Athletic Bilbao (Home)
- Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Bilbao have hit a rich vein of form in LaLiga, winning three, drawing one and losing just one of their last five games.
- They’ve come out on top in two of their three most recent home matches, including a 2-1 win over Elche, while they held on for a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano, showing a grit and determination to compete against the best teams in the league.
- This should suit them on Saturday, as Athletic look to exploit space behind Barcelona's high defensive line.
Barcelona (Away)
- Barcelona have a strong away record in LaLiga, with 8 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses from 13 matches.
- Flick’s side have won their last three competitive games, including the aforementioned Copa del Rey success over Atletico Madrid, and head to Bilbao looking to strengthen their position at the top of LaLiga.
- Barca have 64 points from 26 games, while the hosts are ninth with 35 from as many matches.
Head-to-Head
Barcelona have won their last five head-to-head encounters with Athletic Bilbao across all competitions, most recently beating them 5-0 in the Super Cup just seven weeks ago .
Key Players
Lamine Yamal leads the way for Barca with 13 goals in 22 appearances in the top tier, while Gorka Guruzeta is Athletic’s top scorer with six .
Betting Insights
Odds of 1.55 for an away win look fair considering the circumstances, but the odds-on prices for a goal-fest and both teams to score ( 1.48 and 1.5 , respectively) seem slightly short, though the evidence suggests a fairly open game is on the cards.
Prediction
Backing Barca to keep their good run going, and maintain their head-to-head domination over Athletic, looks sensible considering they will be up against a solid side.
