Athletic Bilbao vs Sporting Gijon Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Athletic Bilbao are very short at 1/3 to win this match but for much larger returns, it looks well worth backing them to win but without keeping a clean sheet.

Making a case for a home win is easy. Athletic have an outstanding home record this season in all competitions and 60% of their home games in La Liga have ended in victory. Only 2 sides have collected more points on their own ground and Athletic have gone 14 matches without defeat at San Mames overall coming into this one, winning 11 of those games.

There’s nothing about Sporting Gijon that really suggests they will avoid defeat. They have the joint worst away record in the division with only 0.3 points per away game collected. 70% of those games have ended in defeat and their overall form is very poor too, with 9 defeats in their last 11 games in all competitions. It’s just 1 win in 18 matches overall for the side from Asturias and it’s a big job that new boss Rubi has on his hands, although he did make a bright start by guiding his side to a draw at Real Betis last weekend.

Athletic have much more firepower though and this should be a good opportunity for their attacking players to shine. Sporting have let in 1.95 goals per game on average this season while Athletic have netted 1.7 goals per game at home. With Aduriz not quite enjoying as prolific a campaign in the league, they’ve had to find other sources for goals and one man who is always a threat is attacking midfielder Raul Garcia. With 6 goals in his last 11 Athletic appearances and up against weak opposition, backing Raul Garcia to score anytime at 11/5 looks well worth a punt here.

However, there is reason to think Sporting Gijon will grab a goal. Both teams have scored in a huge 70% of Athletic’s home games this term in La Liga. 7 of their last 8 home wins in the league have been in games where they’ve conceded. When you consider that both teams have scored in 68% of Sporting Gijon games in La Liga this term, backing Athletic Bilbao to Win & Both Teams to Score at 11/5 starts to look like a cracking bet here.