Osasuna vs Athletic Bilbao
Spanish La Liga
Date: Saturday, 1st April 2017
Kick off at 15:15 UK/ 16:15 CET
Venue: Estadio El Sadar, Pamplona.
This game sees Osasuna, who have by some distance, La Liga’s worst home record take on Athletic who have struggled badly on their travels this season. However, after an impressive away win last time out on the road, they should head into this match with a bit more belief and ought to bag all three points.
That win also came in a Basque derby and in surprising circumstances at high-flying rivals Real Sociedad. They were also unlucky to lose 1-0 at Sevilla in their previous away game so there are clear signs that their away performances are finally improving. If they can match either of those levels here, they should have little trouble beating such weak opponents.
With 5 wins from their last 9 in all competitions, Athletic are in decent form and would have had a full two weeks to prepare for this game given few of their players are involved in international action. Star striker Aritz Aduriz has hit a bit of form with 4 goals in his last 7 appearances and with Osasuna so poor defensively he should get chances in this one. Therefore, backing Adruriz to score anytime at 4/6 looks a solid bet here.
Osasuna have been hopeless this season and still only have one league win to their name. It’s a question of when and not if, they are relegated to the second tier and they still only have 11 points on the board with 10 games to go. Their home form has been particularly bad. Their only win was on the road and in Pamplona they average just 0.36 points per game. They have the worst overall defensive record in La Liga with 2.39 goals per game conceded and have been on the end of some fairly heavy defeats.
5 of their 9 home defeats have been by a margin of 2 goals or more and Athletic are still a solid top half side and should have more than enough quality to win with some breathing space, so backing Athletic Bilbao -1 Asian Handicap at 51/50 looks to offer value.
Osasuna vs Athletic Bilbao: Head to Head Statistics
Osasuna have won 10 out of the 35 games meetings against Athletic Club, they have drawn 10 games and lost 15 games to Athletic Club.
Osasuna’s win in their recent games have been in a 2 club friendlies played in 2014 and 2015, they have not won a competitive game against Bilbao since 2012.
Bilbao have won 4 out of their last 5 competitive games against Osasuna and drawn once.
At Estadio El Sadar, the games between these two teams have been shared evenly with each team winning 6 games and drawn 6 games.
Osasuna vs Athletic Bilbao: Prediction
Osasuna are the under dogs in this game after finding the going tough in the relegation battle. They are yet to register a win in the calendar year 2017 and the pressure is massive due to their position at the rock bottom of the league table.
Bilbao have the upper hand in this game after having won in 3 out of their last 5 games. They lost lost twice during the period, which was against elite sides Real Madrid and Sevilla.
Therefore, expect nothing but a home win from this encounter scoring a minimum of two goals.
