Athletic Bilbao Vs Barcelona – What To Expect

Athletic Bilbao hosts Barcelona at the San Mames Barria in an exciting clash from the 27th round of the Spanish La Liga. Let’s see what we can tell you about it in our accurate football predictions today. We expect an amazing game between these two teams.

Let’s start with the hosts. Bilbao are having a very good season and they are fighting for a return to the Champions League. The Basques are currently 5th in the table with 49 points which puts them three points behind the 4th Atletico Madrid. Athletic are very solid under the management of Ernesto Valverde and they one of the best teams in La Liga at the moment. Now Valverde will face one of his former teams, but you can be sure he will try to win.

Last weekend Bilbao suffered their 5th loss for the season. Valverde’s boys faced Real Betis at the Benito Villamarin, but conceded a 1-3 defeat. Gorka Guruzeta scored Athletic’ only goal goal in the match, but Bilbao finished the match with 10 men on the pitch. Nico Williams got sent off in the 40th minute after provoking the referee. It means that Williams won’t be playing against Barca on Sunday.

Bilbao’s dynamic will be their best weapon against Barcelona. Under the management of Valverde, Athletic are playing fast and they create a lot of chances to score. Nico Williams will be missed against Los Cules, but the team have a lot of other options to replace him.

Barcelona are currently third in La Liga with 57 points won so far. The Catalans are surprisingly playing better since the head coach Xavi Hernandez announced his departure in the summer. In the league they won four of their last five matches.

Last weekend Barca hosted Getafe at the Montjuic and celebrated a convincing 4-0 win. Raphinha scored in the first half of the match while Joao Felix, Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez scored three more after the break. Raphinha provided an assist as well so he was clearly the man of the match. We expect to see him starting at the San Mames Barria on Sunday.

Xavi could make some changes in the starting eleven compared to the match against Getafe. Athletic’ former player Inigo Martinez could return in defense while Pedri and Lamine Yamal could start the game as well. These three players were rested against Getafe, but now they are ready to return in action. This means that Cubarsi and Joao Felix could sit on the bench against the Basques.

Andreas Christensen’s new role is becoming an important factor for Barca’s improvement lately. The Danish international is starting the matches as a pivot, and he’s helping the team to achieve a better balance in the defensive part. Most likely Christensen will finish the season in this role because Xavi doesn’t have many other options for the position. One of these options is Oriol Romeu, but he lost the coach’s trust a long time ago.

Barcelona’s performance in defense will be crucial against the mighty Basques. It means that Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and probably Inigo Martinez will have to be at their absolute best. Even without the suspended Nico Williams, Athletic will be very dangerous in the offensive part.

That’s the accurate football predictions today for the La Liga derby between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona at the San Mames Barria. This is a quite unpredictable match in the Basque capital. Athletic are one of the best teams in the country right now while Barcelona are in a great shape, too. It will be very curious to follow the tactical duel between Ernesto Valverde and Xavi Hernandez as well.