Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla predictions for this Liga Santander clash on Saturday at San Mamés Stadium. Sevilla don’t want Real Madrid to move further away from them in the standings, so they have to deliver and beat Athletic Bilbao, who, as a home team, don’t have many defensive weaknesses. Read on for our free predictions and betting tips.
Athletic Bilbao
After the goalless draw against Getafe, Athletic Bilbao have now failed to win a league game for seven consecutive matches, a worrying situation for a team that should in principle be fighting to qualify for European competitions.
Athletic Bilbao is, along with Sevilla, the team that concedes the fewest goals, only 11 in 16 matches. The curious thing is that of the 11 goals conceded, seven of them have been conceded at San Mamés, so in principle, their defensive weakness is greater when they play at home than when they are the away team.
If we have praised Athletic’s good defensive play, we must also criticize their offensive weakness. Only 13 goals scored in 16 games, a very low figure for a team like them, who should be fighting to be among the six best teams in the competition. The lack of goals scored by players such as Iñaki Williams and Raul García has a lot to do with this.
Sevilla
Sevilla beat Villarreal 1-0 last weekend and remain in second place, eight points behind leaders Real Madrid. Finishing top of the table will be very difficult for Sevilla, but their fans will surely be very proud if their team finishes in second place on the last matchday.
Sevilla’s away figures are not bad, although it is true that they have been more vulnerable than usual in the last few games. In eight games they have three wins, two draws and two defeats. They have scored seven goals and conceded only five, making them the second best away team in defensive terms so far.
Sevilla have won only two of the last five meetings against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés stadium. In addition, the two teams have not drawn a single match at San Mames since 2000.
In theory, Sevilla are currently a superior team to Athletic Bilbao, both in terms of squad and in terms of what we see in matches. However, this matchday they face a super defensive team, who hardly give their opponents any chances, so we think that playing San Mames, this match could end in a draw, with both teams cancelling each other out.