Athletic Bilbao will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run in La Liga to five matches when they welcome Real Betis to San Mames on Saturday afternoon.
The Basque outfit currently occupy 10th position in Spain's top flight, while Betis sit 13th, five points behind their opponents ahead of this weekend's contest in Bilbao.
Match preview
© Reuters
Nine wins, 12 draws and eight defeats - that is how Athletic Club have performed in La Liga this season, with a total of 39 points from their 29 matches leaving them in 10th position in the table.
Athletic finished eighth last term and are only four points off that position at this stage, although Valencia will have the chance to pick up another three points against Real Madrid on Thursday night.
Gaizka Garitano's side, as mentioned, will bring a four-game unbeaten run into Saturday's contest, picking up eight points in the process, although they are yet to win since returning to action on June 14.
Indeed, the Basque outfit shared the points with Atletico Madrid in their first game before playing out a 2-2 draw with Eibar on Wednesday night.
Athletic suffered a 3-2 defeat when they travelled to Betis in the reverse match earlier this season, but they recorded a 1-0 victory in the corresponding fixture during the 2018-19 campaign.
© Reuters
Betis, meanwhile, have lost to Sevilla and drawn with Granada in their two matches since Spain's top flight resumed amid the coronavirus pandemic on June 11.
The Seville-based outfit have finished sixth and 10th in their last two campaigns at this level of football but have struggled for consistency this term and currently sit 13th in the table.
The Green and Whites have actually only won eight times in La Liga this season and have been victorious in just one of their last nine in Spain's top flight, which will not hand their supporters too much confidence ahead of this weekend's trip to a side with a lot of talented attackers.
Rubi's side have also only won one of their 14 away matches in the league this term, but the absence of supporters at San Mames could help the visitors on Saturday afternoon.
Bilbao La Liga form: LLWWDD
Bilbao form (all competitions): LWLWDD
Betis La Liga form: DDLWLD
Team News
© Reuters
Athletic's squad is in excellent shape at the moment in terms of injuries and suspensions, meaning that Garitano has plenty of decisions to make when it comes to selection this weekend.
Inaki Williams was named on the bench against Eibar but should return to the XI for this match, which could see Gaizka Larrazabal drop out of the side.
Raul Garcia was again on the scoresheet on Wednesday, though, and should keep his spot.
As for Betis, Joaquin, William Carvalho and Sidnei are all doubts for Saturday's contest, while Javi Garcia faces a late fitness test on a calf problem.
Cristian Tello, Carles Alena and Borja Iglesias were all named on the bench against Granada last time out but are expected to return to the starting XI here.
Marc Bartra is also likely to start in central defence should he shake off an injury concern.
Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Capa, Yeray, Martinez, Yuri; Vesga, D Garcia; Williams, Muniain, Cordoba; R Garcia
Betis possible starting lineup:
Joel; Pedraza, Bartra, Mandi, Emerson; Alena, Guardado, Canales; Tello, Iglesias, Fekir
We say: Athletic Bilbao 2-2 Real Betis
Both sides will feel confident of harming the other in the final third of the field, but there is not much between them in terms of quality. It should be an open and entertaining match at San Mames, and we are backing an entertaining 2-2 draw, which would not be the worst result for either team.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Athletic Bilbao win with a probability of 47.77%. A win for Real Betis had a probability of 26.25% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for an Athletic Bilbao win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.21%) and 2-0 (8.89%). The likeliest Real Betis win was 0-1 (8.26%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.33%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Athletic Bilbao in this match.
