Athletic Bilbao v Granada

Athletic Bilbao vs Granada Preview

Athletic Bilbao were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home by Villarreal on Sunday in the Spanish top flight which has left the hosts sitting in fifth place and four points adrift of fourth placed Atletico Madrid but Ernesto Valverde's side know they can reduce this deficit to just a single point with all three points against second from bottom club Granada when the two teams meet at their San Mamés Barria on Friday night.

Athletic Bilbao had previously been handed a 2-0 defeat away from home at the La Liga leaders Real Madrid but results overall for the home side have been generally solid as they have suffered just three losses within their last 21 games overall, each of which were inflicted upon Bilbao on their travels.

Defeats on the road at Valencia, Real Betis and aforementioned Real Madrid have been outweighed by 11 wins in the process which has helped maintain Athletic Bilbao's push for a possible top four finish thanks to solid results on home soil at their San Mamés Barria.

Indeed, eight of Athletic Bilbao's 11 aforementioned wins have been registered in their own backyard, making them hot favourites for all three points in this upcoming clash but a clean sheet could also feature as six of Athletic Bilbao's last 10 home games have seen the hosts prevent their visitors from scoring.

Granada registered a desperately needed 2-0 home win against bottom club Almeria last weekend which ended a miserable winless run of 11 games in the Spanish top flight that contained no fewer than eight losses but the visitors face a mountain to climb when they make their way to the San Mamés Barria to take on a solid Athletic Bilbao outfit on Friday night.

Five of Granada's recent eight defeats have been inflicted upon Jose Ramon Sandoval's side on their travels with losses incurred at the likes of Real Betis, Getafe, Villarreal, Mallorca and Cadiz respectively with four of these five losses also resulting in Granada failing to score as well.

The bigger picture shows Granada have managed to capture just two wins from their last 28 matches in La Liga, thus underlining the reason why the visitors find themselves battling against relegation and a significant 11 points adrift of safety ahead of this weekend's La Liga action.

Granada are one of only two sides who have yet to record a single win away from home so far this season (Cadiz being the other) and having lost 13 of their 15 outings on the road to date along with failing to score in nine of these games, there appears to be little hope for them here.

Athletic Bilbao v Granada Verdict

Athletic Bilbao look set to record a comfortable victory here.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS No @ 1.61

Other side bets worth considering:

Athletic Bilbao win & BTTS No @ 1.83

Correct Score: Athletic Bilbao 3-0 @ 7.50