Ath Bilbao vs Real Madrid prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-12-03 20:00.
[p]After yet another brilliant week saw Athletic Bilbao maintain pace with the leaders in the UEFA Europa League, they subsequently returned to La Liga action with a 2-1 win against Rayo Vallecano. That result both kept the hosts well in the top-four race at this stage whilst extending their unbeaten run of league games to six, their longest since a ten-game sequence which ended in January. [/p]
[p]Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde has played only Sevilla more often than his 33 touchline meetings with Real Madrid (W9, D6, L18) and despite his negative H2H record, the former Barcelona boss has overseen a run of just one defeat in Athletic’s last 26 home league games (W16, D9, L1). It perhaps should be noted how that sequence began following a 2-0 defeat to Real and the only team to beat them here since were another club from the Spanish capital, Atlético. [/p]
[p]Contrastingly, following yet another difficult week on the European front, reigning champions Real Madrid notched a third straight league win in the previous round, with boss Carlo Ancelotti claiming that the club are fixing their problems “bit by bit.” Here, Real can maintain their newfound advantage in the title race, but to do so, they’ll have to take advantage of their game in hand.[/p]
[p]Playing away shouldn’t faze Madrid, who travel here on the back of 21 consecutive unbeaten away league games (W13, D8). Both sides have only played Barcelona more often than their 186 La Liga H2Hs, and familiarity breeds success as far as Real are concerned as they’ve only beaten Espanyol more often in La Liga than their 98 wins in this match-up, with a five-game winning run at San Mamés making it nine straight unbeaten league visits.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Oihan Sancet has scored each of Athletic Club’s last three goals, and all six of his domestic scoring appearances this season saw him net the team opener. After receiving criticism from the media following a rather barren spell, Kylian Mbappé secured back-to-back scoring league appearances for the first time since September with his goal against Getafe. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Real Madrid are the only side in La Liga who have scored in every single away game this season. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Matthew Billon[/i][/p]