Athletic Bilbao vs Osasuna: Betting Odds & Prediction
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Athletic Bilbao look to keep their feint Champions League hopes alive with a win over Osasuna on Saturday evening.
The hosts can ill-afford to drop more points if they are to secure a top four finish this season. Kick-off is set for 8pm UK time at Estadio de San Mamés.
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Athletic Bilbao
Ernesto Valverde's side bounced back from a damaging loss to top four rivals Atletico Madrid with a 2-0 away win at Getafe last weekend. The result kept them within six points of Atletico, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot in La Liga. Victory remains a must for Bilbao on Saturday if they are to have any hope of closing the gap with four matches of the season remaining.
Boasting the fifth-best home record in the division, Valverde's men will be confident of picking up three points in this one. Though three of their last five home encounters have ended in a draw, Bilbao haven't lost on home turf since a 2-0 defeat to champions Real Madrid on the opening day of the season.
Only three other sides have bettered the 38 goals they've scored at home, and Bilbao have also managed an impressive 16 clean sheets so far this term. Eight of those have came in home fixtures.
Osasuna
The visitors find themselves seven points clear of the relegation zone, but a run of six defeats in their last seven matches will worry manager Jagoba Arrasate. A continued rot could see them drawn into a relegation dogfight in the final weeks, unless they manage to put points on the board.
A mediocre away record offers little suggestion of a result this weekend, though. Averaging a meagre 1.06 points away from home, Osasuna have kept only four away clean sheets all season. Only four sides have conceded more than the 51 goals they've already shipped, and eight of their away fixtures have seen them concede at least two.
Prediction
With one clean sheet in their last seven, it's hard to see Osasuna keeping out a freescoring Bilbao side, and their average return of 1.09 goals scored is unlikely to threaten a sturdy home defence.