ATHLETIC BILBAO v BARCELONA
La Liga
Friday 16th August 2019
Kickoff: 2000hrs
Pick: Barcelona win
Bookmaker: Bet Victor
Odds: 1.75 (odds taken at 02:17 GMT, 16 August 2019)
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.82 | 3.72 | 1.73 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of August 16th 2019 at 02:17)
The new Spanish top flight La Liga season commences on Friday night when Athletic Bilbao play host to Barcelona as the betting tips continue at the San Mamés Barria.
Athletic Bilbao Prediction – Can Athletic Bilbao go one step better?
The hosts of this opening clash of the new La Liga season, Athletic Bilbao, narrowly missed out on grabbing the last remaining European spot at the end of last season as they lost out on goal difference to eventual 7th placed team, Espanyol.
A margin of just 2 goals was the difference between making the Europa League or not, so a bitterly disappointed Athletic Bilbao will be keen to go one step better this season and make the top seven cut of the Spanish top flight this time around.
However, Athletic Bilbao’s opening match of the new La Liga campaign couldn’t be more difficult as they play host to last season’s title winners, Barcelona, at their San Mamés Barria ground, with the visitors looking to continue their dominance over the rest of the competition.
Athletic Bilbao suffered just 2 defeats at home throughout the whole of their La Liga campaign, finishing with a solid looking home record of 9-8-2 26/19 to their name. The hosts have lost 4 of their last 6 encounters against Barcelona, but their last 2 meetings ended in draws, 0-0 and 1-1 respectively.
Barcelona Prediction – Can Barcelona continue dominance?
Although they were only pre-season friendlies, Barcelona captured 4 wins on the trot to end their warm-up preparations for this new La Liga campaign in ominous fashion, securing wins against Vissel Kobe, Arsenal and Napoli with home and away with 2-1 and 4-0 victories respectively.
The Spanish title winners registered another domestic title by a convincing 11-point margin ahead of runners-up, Atletico Madrid, who have now usurped their fierce cross-town rivals, Real Madrid, as the main challengers to Barcelona’s dominance.
While Athletic Bilbao were beaten just twice all season at home in the last term of the La Liga campaign, Barcelona were also defeated on just two occasions out of their 19 away matches last season.
Barcelona ended another successful season with an overall away record of 11-6-2 39/19 and they ended up with just 1 defeat out of their last 16 matches on their travels which was a contributing factor to the visitors landing another domestic league title.
In addition, Barcelona managed to keep a total of 8 clean sheets on the road too, and with the likes of their formidable attacking quartet of Messi, Suarez, Dembele and Griezmann up front, along with Coutinho and Vidal in midfield, they’ll be hard to stop again this season.
Key-Facts – Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona
- Athletic Bilbao lost just 2 of their 19 home matches in La Liga
- Barcelona have lost just 1 of their last 16 away matches in La Liga
- Barcelona have won 4 of the last 6 meetings against Athletic Bilbao
Betting Tips Verdict
Athletic Bilbao produced a solid season last term but could find the going tough against a well-motivated Barcelona outfit in this opening clash of the season.
