La Liga preview and odds: Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Real Sociedad
Published on: 20/02/2016
La Liga preview and odds: Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Real Sociedad
February 21, 2016 18:15pm - San Mames
La Liga
Athletic Club will be defending an eight-game unbeaten home streak in La Liga when they welcome Basque Country rivals Real Sociedad to San Mames on Sunday.
San Mames - a fortress again?
Athletic Club have lost just two home games all season, with both defeats coming against the big two of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Since the defeat to Los Blancos back in September, Ernesto Valverdes team have gone eight games unbeaten on home soil, having won five and drawn three. It seems that San Mames is once again turning into a fortress for the Bilbao-based team.
In their last league match, Los Leones were beaten 4-2 away to Real Madrid, they followed that up with an impressive 1-0 win away to Marseilles in the Europe League.
Three wins out of three for La Real
A run of three straight wins has lifted Real Sociedad to the 10th place in La Liga table, nine points clear of the drop zone. The Basque Country side spent the early part of the season flirting with the relegation zone under British Coach David Moyes, but since his departure the club`s fortunes have changed.
New boss Eusebio took a while to find his feet, but recent performances have given the San Sebastian faithful plenty to be optimistic about. They have lost just once in the last seven matches, with the most recent result being a 3-0 win at home to Granada. Prior that that, La Real smashed Espanyol 5-0 in Barcelona.
Team news
Etxeita will be suspended for Athletic Club, while Ibai will be missing through injury.
The visitors will be without the suspended Oier and Xabi Prieto, while Carlos Martinez, Raul Navas, Agirretxe and Canales are all out injured.
Recent form (League)
Athletic Club de Bilbao: LDWWL
Real Sociedad: WWWLD
Betting odds and tips
Athletic Club are hard to beat on home soil, while Real Sociedad have been unpredictable away from home this season.
The last four meetings between these two teams have ended in stalemates.
You can back the draw at 5/2 with Bet365.
By Neil Morris
Published on: 20/02/2016
Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (20/02/2016 13:45:42) but are subject to change.
Go To bet365
Bet Credits
