[Football- Spain 'La Liga'] 6.10/ 21:00 Athletic Bilbao- Almeria

[Alex]

[Football- Spain 'La Liga'] 6.10/ 21:00 Athletic Bilbao- Almeria


Not many games to choose from Friday, so I’ll go a little more conservative especially off the back of a loss, but I like this line for Athletic Bilbao. They are strong at home and should get the job done here, you guys know I love my -1 lines, all things considered I think this is a relatively safe bet, if Bilbao win by one goal the bet is a push.

They have taken 7 of the last 9 available points at home so far this season, and have won their last four matches against Almeria. They have started pretty well in the league with 4 wins 2 draws and 2 losses, those two losses coming to Sociedad and Real Madrid. They have historically always been very very tough to beat at home, and are always putting up goals as hosts (9 of their 13 goals so far this season have come at home). They’ll be looking to get their form back on track, as they face Barcelona after the international break, and after a heavy 3-0 loss to Sociedad I really do think they will come into this match fired up. I should mention they also have their striker Nico Williams coming back from injury and he should be able to play the full 90 mins here.

Almeria are not good at all this season. They sit dead bottom of the table in 20th, taking 3 points from a possible 24. Safe to say it’s been a rough start. They actually have a pretty talented squad, but are just incapable of keeping the ball out of their net: their goal difference is -10, the worst in the league. Their away record is not good at all, in away matches this season Almeria have 3 losses and 1 draw, and have not beaten Bilbao since 2009. I expect this to be a pretty high scoring game, but it’s unlikely that Almeria can limit this fluid Bilbao attack. They are also carrying a couple injuries which will hurt their chances.

As a funny (and probably useless) statistic, Bilbao have won each of their last 3 games played on a Friday and Almeria have lost their last 3 played on that day. I think Bilbao will get this one done. This is the PERFECT match to return to form for them in front of the home fans. Again, it’s not amazing juice, but for a Friday bet I don’t mind it. I already have my bets locked in for Saturday and Sunday, hopefully we can go 3/3 for the weekend.

1 (handicap -1,5) @1,90 Bet365

FT 3:0