Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona Prediction & Betting Tips - LaLiga

Prediction published on 19/08/2021, 00:34  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 19/08/2021 at 00:38 in LaLiga Predictions

Barcelona will go in to Week 2 of action in La Liga seeking to extend their good start, when they visit Athletic Bilbao. The Catalans, playing at home, endured some nervy moments in Week 1 before beating Real Sociedad 4-2. Meanwhile, Athletic Bilbao played to a 0-0 draw with Elche and will be hoping their first home game serves three points. Athletic Bilbao are a solid side, and go to this game unbeaten in their last three but haven’t won a lot lately. In their last 12 matches, they have three wins only, but in the last five they’ve lost just once, while keeping two clean sheets. They have two losses in the last three home matches and one win in five at home. Going to this game, memories of the 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey final in April will be fresh. The consolation for them, is that Lionel Messi who was the destroyer-in-chief back then, is no longer at the team. Each of their last four meetings has produced over 2.5 goals and Athletic Bilbao have managed just one win.

Barcelona have beaten Athletic Bilbao four times in the last five meetings. They no longer have Lionel Messi, but they still have the quality, as seen in their opening game of the season, against Real Sociedad. They were indeed shaky towards the end of that game as Sociedad pushed for an equalizer after coming from 3-0 down to 3-2 but Barca scored a late fourth to seal the win. Defensively, they will do with a lot of improvement, having managed just two clean sheets in their last five matches. In attack though, they are good, with Martin Brathwaite and Antoine Griezmann looking sharp after Messi’s departure, while Memphis Depay has also given them a good edge. Brathwaite has scored four times in the last three matches and after his performance in the last game he will be a key man here. The Catalans have scored three goals or more in five of their last six matches and they have six wins in their last seven games.