Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol Predictions

• Under 2.5 goals has landed in four consecutive Espanyol games.
• Bilbao have three clean sheets in their last four at home.
• Espanyol have just four defeats in 16 La Liga games.

Goals at a premium at San Mames

Monday’s La Liga fixture is a key one in the battle for the European spots as fifth placed Espanyol make the trip to an Athletic Bilbao side who sit in seventh spot.

The visitors are in fine form but Bilbao are tough to beat on home soil. There is a chance these sides could cancel each other out so the best angle looks to be backing under 2.5 goals.

Only one goal has been scored in each of Espanyol’s last four games (W3, D1) and they have a fairly strong defensive record with 16 goals conceded in as many games.

The Catalan club’s away games average just 1.9 goals per-game, while Bilbao’s home games have been averaging exactly two goals per-game.

Furthermore, both sides have been keeping clean sheets recently with Bilbao managing shut-outs in three of their last four at home, including a Champions League stalemate with PSG, and Espanyol going three games without conceding in La Liga.

That all suggests that this game will see fewer than three goals scored, and a bore draw could even be on the cards.

Bilbao have only lost three of their nine home games and Espanyol have just four defeats in 16 games this season. With both backlines in good shape, defences could come out on top here and these sides can claim a point apiece.