Football – Spain – La Liga
Saturday 18th April 2015 – Kickoff: 2100hrs
Despite going three matches without a win, and having lost two of these last three in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao will be relieved to be back at home against bottom half opposition Getafe in this evening’s encounter.
Bilbao have had a tough run of fixtures of late with trips to Sevilla (lost 2-0) and Espanyol (lost 1-0) although they did manage to hold fourth placed Valencia to a 1-1 draw in between times which will give them encouragement for this home match.
At their San Mamés Barria ground, they’ve lost just once in their last six and despite losing 5-2 to Barcelona, they’ve achieved wins over Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid and Almeria along with holding top seven teams Malaga and Valencia to draws. Their overall home record stands at 6-4-5 18/18 and they’ve kept five clean sheets at home to date.
Onto visitors Getafe, and they are unbeaten in their last three in La Liga with wins over Deportivo La Coruna and Elche as well as holding Villarreal to a 1-1 draw last Saturday. But when you switch to see their away form in recent weeks, they’ve managed just two wins from their last ten matches on the road.
The wins were at bottom quarter teams Cordoba and Elche, but recent defeats to Almeria, Valencia, Malaga and Atletico Madrid suggests they tend to struggle against the better teams in the division, particularly away from home.
Getafe’s away record stands at 4-2-9 14/23 and they’ve kept just one clean sheet away from home all season which came in their last away match in a 1-0 win at Elche.
Hosts Athletic Bilbao will therefore fancy their chances of hitting the back of the net here, and once ahead, I reckon they’ll be tough to break down – could be a 1-0 win for Athletic Bilbao.
Pick: Athletic Bilbao straight win @ 1.70 Ladbrokes
