Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid Match Result
Real Madrid are nearly always the favourites to win a football match and this fixture is no different. At the Estadio San Mamés, they are given roughly a 50% probability of securing a success and they have won 50% of their away games at the time of writing. There were initially 1-1 draws away to Mallorca and Las Palmas before a 2-0 triumph at Real Sociedad.
Then came another 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid before claiming a 2-1 success at Celta Vigo and then came a 3-0 success at Leganes. However, this match could be a difficult one for Carlo Ancelotti’s side considering that there is a busy fixture schedule for them to encounter including a midweek Champions League clash at Liverpool.
They then host Getafe on 1 December before this encounter, with Athletic Bilbao looking to inflict a first away La Liga defeat on Real Madrid. The home side don’t tend to lose too many games, with the team having enjoyed a seven match unbeaten run at the time of writing. Since losing 2-1 away to Girona in early October, there have been lots of positive results.
Ernesto Valverde is a wily manager who has seen his team run a tight defensive ship and that means that the draw certainly looks better value than the away win, while it’s possible that they could pull off a shock and bring about a victory which would really boost their hopes of landing a top four spot.
However, Real Madrid claimed two 2-0 wins over Athletic Bilbao last season and some will enjoy being able to back the Spanish champions at a decent price to claim a victory and stay on the trail of a Barcelona side who have been table toppers since the beginning of the campaign.
Goals Under/Over
The big question is whether we’ll see more than two goals scored in this game. Real Madrid have bagged ten on the road in six away games although they’ve also run a tight ship and conceded on just four occasions. On home soil, they have been averaging around three goals at the Bernabeu and they obviously have a stack of firepower from Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.
However, Athletic Bilbao do like to keep things tight and their defence at home has seen them concede just six times in eight home clashes. Ernesto Valverde has got his team really well organised from a defensive point-of-view, with the team likely to run a tight ship when facing top opposition.
We would be in favour of backing Under 2.5 Goals based on the evidence available to us. In a recent 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad, there was just one shot on target from the visitors and we think this will set up Athletic Bilbao nicely and they seem to be comfortable without having too much possession.
BTTS
The BTTS Yes odds is trading shorter than Over 2.5 Goals and the former clearly brings the 1-1 scoreline into play. There’s a distinct possibility that the match will end with this outcome although we’d still be in favour of going for the BTTS No option considering that Real Madrid won both of these games by a 2-0 scoreline last season.
However, Athletic Bilbao have scored in every home match this season aside from a 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid. On that occasion, the game was heading for a goalless draw until Angel Correa bagged a late winner, although the plain fact is that the home side were only able to register one shot on target and there’s the possibility that they will run into brick walls here.
Real Madrid have scored in all of their six away games to date and it will be intriguing to see how they line up, although it’s likely that Los Merengues will be able to get on the scoresheet at least once and perhaps they can run in the goals providing that fatigue doesn’t prove to be too much of a factor.
First Goalscorer
Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe are duking it out to be top scorer for Real Madrid in La Liga this season. The Brazilian has scored eight in his first thirteen La Liga matches, with a hat-trick coming against Osasuna on 9 November. He’s scored in five of the last seven games at the time of writing, with nine goals coming in total during this period.
Mbappe has bagged nine goals this season and perhaps he’s going to start ramping up his ratio after scoring the opener on Sunday 24 November when his team won 3-0 at Leganes. It’s also the fact that Jude Bellingham has returned to the scoring trail in recent times and the English midfielder scored in consecutive games against Osasuna and Leganes.
When it comes to Athletic Bilbao, Oihan Sancet has found the net six times and that included the recent winner as part of a 1-0 win against Sociedad. Alex Berenguer has also notched a couple of recent goals, bagging against Espanyol and Real Betis.