FC Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao predictions for this Liga Santander clash on Sunday at Camp Nou Stadium. Barcelona seem to have already adopted a good trend of play and results, but in this matchday they will have to face a team that always makes things difficult for them, Athletic Bilbao. Who will be the winner of this match?. Read on for our free predictions and betting tips.
Bookmaker Ratings prediction one – Home Win and Two or more total match goals – 1.91
Bookmaker Ratings prediction two – Handicap Draw FC Barcelona -1 goal – 3.50
The effect of Xavi Hernandez on the Barça bench already seems to be having an effect, as we see a team with an increasingly better attacking and constructive game, although in defence they still have to improve a lot. Playing at home in this match and with the team in good shape, we see Barça as favourites to take all three points from this game.
In Athletic Bilbao’s six defeats so far this season, all of them have been by a single goal difference, so we think it is a very good handicap to reduce FC Barcelona by one goal so that the match could end in a draw.
Barça’s last five games have been full of goals, with 12 goals scored and six conceded. That’s an average of 3.6 total goals per game.
As for the distribution of goals according to the period of the match, in the last three matches they have scored seven goals in the first halves and a smaller amount in the second halves, three.
There are two stretches of games in which Barça have been particularly dangerous in attacking terms so far, and that is between the 41-50th minute and between the 81-90th minute, in both stretches they have scored 10 goals, so considering the club has scored 42 goals so far, almost half of them have come between those stretches of games.
Of Athletic Bilbao’s first 13 matches, 11 of them ended with less than 2.5 total goals per game. However, the Basque club have now had three straight games with more than 2.5 total goals and even their last two games have had more than 3.5 total goals.
Ahtletic Bilbao have scored six goals in their last two matches, all of them in the second halves of those games. This is an interesting statistic, as before those two games they had gone three games in a row without scoring a goal after the 45th minute.
With two very different styles facing each other, one as attacking as Barça’s and the other as defensive as Athletic’s, we think that one of the two will manage to score at least one goal in the first half, either because of Barça’s constant attacks or because Athletic will take advantage of Barça defending with their defence so far forward to hurt them with counterattacks. For this reason, we think that the match will have more than 0.5 total goals in the first half. This bet has odds of 1.40 at William Hill.
Barça are still missing Alejandro Baldé, Samuel Umtiti, Moussa Wague and Memphis Depay through injury, while Jordi Alba will not be available due to suspension.
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? @ryghtan pic.twitter.com/sjLFjZxKtd— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es)
Athletic Bilbao will be without Álex Berenguer through suspension while Nico Williams is still injured.
? Aquí llegan los leones ?
¡¡En marcha el entrenamiento de hoy!!#BarçaAthletic #AthleticClub ?⚪ pic.twitter.com/50CV745Iik
— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub)
Starting Lineups
FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Dest, Araújo, Piqué, Alves, Busquets, De Jong, Pedri, Gavi, Ferran, Aubameyang.
Athletic Bilbao: Unai Simón, Yuri, Íñigo, Vivian, De Marcos, Dani García, Vesga, Muniain, Zarraga, Williams, Sancet.
Highlighted Player
Pedri
After his return from injury, Pedri is clearly one of Barça’s best players, his quality with the ball at his feet and the ease with which he does everything is always a problem for his opponents, as he is also a player with very good positioning on the pitch, he always knows where the best place to be in each situation is.
Most popular FaQ for FC Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao
The last match between these clubs ended in a 3-2 win for Athletic Bilbao, in January 2022.
Where will this fixture be played?
This game will be played at Camp Nou Stadium, Barcelona.
Which bookmaker has the best odds for this game?
We recommend checking out the odds at William Hill for FC Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao.
Single: WonLiga Santander20:00/27 febFC Barcelona vs Athletic BilbaoBet: Home Win and Two or more total match goalsto:50% players believe that this bet will win!Single: LostLiga Santander20:00/27 febFC Barcelona vs Athletic BilbaoBet: Handicap Draw FC Barcelona -1 goalto:50% players believe that this bet will win!