Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol Betting Tips: San Mamés set for goals

Two of the La Liga teams who’re currently chasing European football (in the form of the Europa League) will lock horns on Tuesday evening in what is a big game in the aforementioned race for Europa League football next season.

In recent weeks, goals have tended to be the order of the day when either of these two have taken to the pitch and, as they now face each other, much of the same is fancied. Both are more than capable of creating numerous chances/scoring goals, but, at the same time, neither have been defending all that well. The two bets that stand out are ‘Both Teams to Score’ and ‘Over 2.5 Goals’.

When it comes to playing matches away from home in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao’s San Mamés is often referred to as one of the harder grounds to visit; however, this season, the majority of visiting teams have been able to get competitive, mainly thanks to Bilbao’s poor defending. Although they do boast a strong home record in terms of wins recorded, as well as goals scored, defensively, Ernesto Valverde’s team have been anything but secure. Unsurprisingly, they’ve failed to score just twice, but they’ve only managed to keep three clean sheets, while both teams have scored in 73% (11/15) of their home matches.

In addition, recent home form has seen Bilbao both score and concede more often than not with both teams finding the net in five of their last six and in eight of their last ten. With such a defensive record, an Espanyol team who’ve scored nine goals in their last five La Liga matches should feel upbeat about their attacking chances here.

As touched on above, Espanyol have been in useful scoring form of late and come here having notched in four of their last five, as well as eight of their last ten. Their form on the road hasn’t exactly been amazing, but they’ve only failed to score in four of their 14 away matches during this campaign. Quique Sánchez Flores’ men have kept five clean sheets away from home this season, but are without a shutout in their last four on the road and aren’t likely to stop this run given Bilbao’s knack of scoring in front of their own fans. Having said that, considering the visitors’ scoring form of late, coupled with the defensive weaknesses showcased on a regular basis by their hosts, they really ought to be getting on the score-sheet themselves at least once.

Overall this season, when Bilbao have played in front of a home crowd, goals have generally arrived. ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ has landed in 67% (10/15) of their home fixtures, and, with there being plenty to like about the forward chances of both, and little to cling onto in the way of defensive hope, the goals are expected to arrive in no small number in this fixture too.

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