La Liga: Bilbao are Back and Sevilla are a Game On

Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla

Third plays fourth from bottom in the big La Liga clash in Saint Mames on Sunday, but all is not quite as it appears.

Athletic Bilbao at home to Sevilla looks like a classic well-matched fixture, but the hosts are down in 17^th place so you might expect a comfortable away win. Thankfully for the Basque club, their La Liga 2019 results have been much better than the sorry run which dumped them deep in the relegation mire since the appointment of Gaizka Garitano.

So I expect a hard-fought match when Sevilla come to town.

It’s a rematch of the Cope del Rey fixture right here on Thursday which Sevilla won 1-3 with goals from Nolito, Andre Silva and Wissam Ben Yedder against a weakened home side.

This league match is a different prospect and it could be a great game to watch, so let’s take a closer look at the shape of the teams and then come up with our Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla betting tips.

Talking Points

Bilbao are looking up

Head Coach Garitano has made an immediate impact since his promotion from Athletic Bilbao II at the beginning of December. Taking over a team on its knees, he had three wins and two draws in all competitions before the Copa defeat to Sevilla. However, he did rest a number of senior players.

He began his reign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Girona in La Liga when, as well as winning three crucial points, the Lions played some great football. And after a catastrophic first half of the season, eight points from four games have lifted Athletic Bilbao out of the bottom three; and they are looking to kick on. They have appointed Rafa Alkorta as new Director of Football, and he already has his sights set on Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera and Spurs striker Fernando Llorente as he aims to strengthen Bilbao’s survival bid.

The club’s recruitment policy is to only sign players born in the Basque Country or who came through the ranks of Basque clubs, and both these players have starred for Bilbao previously and would be welcomed back with open arms.

Iker Munian and Inaki Williams are top-scoring for the Lions with five each and were both on target in an excellent 1-2 win away at Celta Vigo last week. Last season’s top hit man Aritz Aduriz is only on two but is starting to suffer muscle injuries more often than he’d like at 37.

Sevilla fans expect Wissam Ben Yedder to continue his fine run of form against Bilbao in La Liga — Wissam Ben Yedder is in fine form with nine league goals and he scored in the Copa clash on Thursday

Can Sevilla find another gear?

We’ve been keeping a close eye on Pablo Machin’s Sevilla with our SBOBET tips, and a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid last week showed they are ready to push the two Madrid clubs all the way in the pursuit of Barcelona at the top of La Liga. The Catalans have not been firing on all cylinders but still enjoy a five-point lead at the top, and someone needs to make a stand.

Could it be Machin’s team, seven points back? Well, it’s a big ask; the practical approach is to lock down a top-four place and see where that takes you. But if they are to stay in the race until May, Sevilla need to find another gear. This is a really tough game, and I think we’ll have our answer if the visitors fail to win.

Wissam Ben Yedder and Andre Silva make an exciting strike partnership with 17 goals between them so far, and they’ll need to at least match that in the second half of the season.

History

This game will be the 50^th meeting of these two sides since 1993, and Sevilla are on top with 23 victories to Bilbao’s 13; there have been 12 draws.

FC Sevilla haven’t lost in their last 8 games, and both arrive with three wins in the last six. So two in-form teams are set to battle it out.

And Bilbao have won on the last three occasions these two sides have met at Saint Mames in the league.

Betting Tip

	Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla	Under 2.50 goals @ 1.80
	January 13, 23:15(GMT+8)

This is a really tight game to call with the visitors marginal favourites at 2.64, while the hosts are at 2.79 and the draw at 3.00. So take your pick!

Garitano has done an excellent job in breathing life into Bilbao’s campaign and he has made the Lions hard to beat, conceding just twice in the last four league games. Bilbao won this corresponding fixture last season, 1-0, and a repeat of that would make the weekend in the Basque.