Dinamo Buc – Ath Bilbao

Dinamo Bucharest will return to European action after a 5 year ban, but the Romanians have been drawn a bad hand, as they have to face Spanish side Athletic Bilbao in this Europa League third qualifying round.

Dinamo Bucharest has two matches under their belt this season, winning one and losing one, not playing particularly good football. The Red Dogs made a fair number of moves in the Summer and on paper they are legit title contenders in Romania after a 3rd place finish last year. However, the most important signings arrived late and are not yet fit enough, so the Red Dogs will need some time until they can show the best version of themselves.

This will be the first competitive match for Athetic Club this season, so that will be a disadvantage for them, but the visitors will rely on their quality to take home a positive result. The Basque side has not made any relevant moves in the Summer break, so they are basically the same team as last season (when they finished 7th in La Liga). Bilbao had mixed results in friendlies, but that is never an indicative of anything.

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Team news & lineups:

Dinamo Bucharest has reported a clean bill of health ahead of this clash, although key new signings like Anton or Albin are unlikely to feature. Bilbao will miss two key players in the form of Williams and Iturraspe.

Dinamo Bucharest: Penedo – Romera, Nedelcearu, Maric, Filip – Mahlangu, Nascimento – Hanca, Rivaldinho, Salomao – Nemec

Athletic Bilbao: Herrerin – Lekue, Laporte, Etxeita, Balenziaga – Vesga, San Jose – Benat, Raul Garcia, Susaeta – Aduriz

Not only will this be the first official match of the season for Bilbao, but they are an entire month away from the start of La Liga. They are in the middle of their off season, with friendlies right before and after this match. Dinamo is at a more advanced stage of preparation, having already played official matches, so this will be a big advantage for them – but it is also one of the only ones, along with home court advantage and possibly motivation.

Athletic Club is clearly and by far the better side here and they always take Europa League very seriously, so they are expected to dominate this clash against Dinamo in Romania. They might be a little rusty, allowing Dinamo to create some chances, but should also bang in a couple of goals themselves.

The above scenario is likely specifically because Dinamo has a horrific defense, all 4 defenders being of extremely low quality and prone to errors – but the attack is very potent. The Red Dogs will probably approach the game in a cautious manner, but it`s highly unlikely for that poor defense to resist – and once it cracks, the game will open up.

Odds for goals are unreasonably high here, both teams are rather offensive minded so I think the over is more probable than the under. My tip here is over 2,5 goals to be scored. 1-2 or 1-3 would be my call. Prediction: Dinamo Bucharest – Athletic Bilbao 1-2.

Pick: over 2,5 goals
Odds: 2.35 @ Unibet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 10.80
Event date: 27 July