La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona Preview, Odds, Prediction

Barcelona heads for Bilbao to meet with Athletic in the derby of La Liga‘s Week 2. After opening the campaign with a strong win at home over Sociedad, Blaugrana looks to continue with wins and rebuff the negative circumstances surrounding the team. In the recent few days, a lot of negative news linked to Barca emerged, one of them a massive debt that eclipses $1.5 billion. On the other side, Athletic started the championship with a goalless draw in Elche against the hosts in one very boring and dull match. Whoever watched that lost 90 minutes of his life for nothing.

Preview

Athletic Bilbao (+320) had a historic chance last year to win the Copa del Rey trophy after 37 years but failed to do that on two occasions. The Basque team lost on two occasions, first against Sociedad and the second time to Barcelona. It was a blow they couldn’t recover from, eventually finishing outside the zone that leads to international competitions.

Bilbao didn’t have some massive signings during the transfer window, and as usual, they rely upon home-grown players from their region.

They play tactical and dull football, to be honest. Lots of passes and endless calculating is their trademark. Compared to how they played a few years ago, it is a step back.

Barcelona (-110) is in trouble, and that is nothing new. Messi is gone, financial problems are threatening to seriously change the overall look of the team and the club in general, and as time goes by, more and more players are picking up various injuries. All in all, Barca is living in a nightmare.

The only bright spot in recent times was a won over Sociedad last weekend, 4-2, in which we saw that there are still world-class players in Barcelona’s unit.

Memphis Depay could be the new leader, with the Dutch forward showing determination and desire to give 100% of his abilities and help his team overcome this crisis.

Latest News

Yuri Berchiche, Peru Nolaskoain, Kenan Kodro, Inigo Cordoba, and Alex Petxa are all out due to various injuries. Meanwhile, Ander Capa is questionable.

Barcelona will play without Ansu Fati, Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Aguero, Miralem Pjanic, Samuel Umtiti, and the starting goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen. As we said, Blaugrana is being struck hard by bad luck.

Head to Head Matches

Bilbao and Barca met in the Copa del Rey finals the last time they played. It was in April this year, and Blaugrana won 4-0. It was the fourth time that these two sides met during the previous campaign. Barca won both matches in La Liga, but the Spanish Super Cup ended in Bilbao’s favor following a penalty extra times.

Prediction

Despite having so many troubles, Barca is out favorite to come out as a winner from this clash. They are a better team than Bilbao, and after watching Athletic’s performance against Elche, we don’t believe that the hosts have the strength to endanger the Catalonians. Odds on Barcelona’s victory are -110, which is highly profitable. For those who have second thoughts regarding this pick, moderate efficiency, 2 or 3 goals is the backup plan, with the odds at +100.

Pick: Barcelona wins -110