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Early Sunday afternoon match in Spain, with Athletic Club hosting Alaves in the 17th round of La Liga. Both teams enter this match in fine form.
Bilbao is on the back of a fantastic 2-1 win over Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey midweek, which was their 3rd consecutive win in all competitions. The hosts have been excellent at home this season, as always, winning 6 out of 8 matches in La Liga and 11 out of 13 overall – including the last 7! Athletic Club is currently on the 7th place in the standings, but will tie Villarreal and Sociedad for the 5th place with a win today.
Alaves is sitting on the 12th place in La Liga and the newcomers had a solid season so far, mostly relying on their excellent defense (only 17 goals conceded and a -2 goal difference, great stats). The visitors have not lost in their last 7 matches in all competitions and their first match in 2017 was a 2-2 draw in Copa Del Rey, away from home, against Deportivo La Coruna.
Bet on Athletic Club vs. Alaves and get your 100% (100 Eur) bonus at Ohmbet now!Team news & lineups:
De Marcos, Aketxe, Yeray and possibly Luque will miss out for Athletic Bilbao. As for Alaves, their only absentee is Hernandez.
Ahletic Bilbao: Arrizabalaga – Lekue, Laporte, Boveda, Balenziaga – Benat, Jose – Williams, Muniain, Garcia – Aduriz
Alaves: Pacheco – Femenia, Laguardia, Feddal, Garcia – Llorente, Garcia – Mendez, Camarasa, Gomez – Deyverson
Alaves has been solid this season, including away from home and they are in excellent form, having not lost in the last 7 games in all competitions. Alaves lost by more than 1 goal just two times this season (in consecutive games against Sociedad and Real Madrid back in October). They already defeated teams like Barcelona or Villarreal away from home this season, so they proved they can take on anybody in La Liga, even on the road.
Athletic Bilbao is having a good year, but they usually rely more on their defense and grind out wins by 1 goal. Only 4 of their 14 wins this season (all competitions) came by more than 1 goal. Also, Bilbao is coming after a big win against Barcelona in Copa Del Rey, a result that might have a negative effect on their fitness and / or concentration.
The matchup between these two defensive minded, organized and disciplined teams, along with Athletic’s potential hangover after the win against Barcelona make me believe that an upset is on the cards here. And if the hosts do manage to win, common sense and stats suggest that it will be very close. Despite Athletic’s brilliant home form, my tip is Alaves to cover the +1 asian handicap. Prediction: Athletic Bilbao – Alaves 0-0.
Pick: Alaves (+1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.88 @ 1xBet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 6.16
Event date: 8 January
