Athletic Bilbao vs Real Betis
Two of the Primera Liga bigger clubs come face to face on Sunday when La Liga: Athletic Club vs Real Betis is the entertainment on offer at the San Mames Stadium.
These are two teams this SBOTOP writer expected to be challenging for European places this season and Betis, managed by Manuel Pellegrini, are up in fifth place, but they have hit a stumbling block in recent weeks, while Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Club are down in tenth place, and nine points behind Los Verdiblancos.
Back-to-back league losses, including a 3-0 defeat to Girona last week, have left Bilbao trailing the leading pack again while Betis, without a win in five outings, drew 1-1 at home to Celta Vigo last week, which leaves them with a six-point cushion over seventh-placed Real Sociedad.
There’s a lot riding on this game and there will be a white hot atmosphere in Bilbao; so the team which comes out on top will be the one which manages to keep its cool.
Talking Points
Bilbao’s blunt attack
Things have not gone to plan this season for Athletic Club. After finishing fourth in the 2024/25 Primera Liga and qualifying for the Champions League, this term has been a let-down. With just two wins in Europe, Bilbao are already out of the Champions League and Valverde’s men have been hovering around the La Liga mid-table for much of the campaign. A run of three consecutive victories lifted them to the fringes of the top six, but a Copa del Rey exit to local rivals Real Sociedad was followed by back-to-back league losses.
The Copa loss to La Real was a 1-0 result, 2-0 on aggregate; and when Bilbao hosted Barcelona recently it ended up the same way as Lamine Yamal scored the winner for the Blaugrana, despite Bilbao having more shots, and more shots on target. Matters went from bad to worse last week as Bilbao crashed 3-0 away to Girona, this time winning the shot count by 20 to 14 with nine on target.
The Bilbao strikers simply haven’t been firing with the venom needed to breach a top-flight Spanish defence and they have been missing winger Nico Williams. But with Nico’s brother Inaki, Oihan Sancet, Alex Benenguer and Gorka Guruzeta in their attacking unit they have plenty of firepower.
The other head scratcher at the San Mames is that a defence with Aymeric Laporte at the heart of it and Unai Simon between the sticks has not kept a clean sheet in 2026.
A pivotal moment for Betis
After finishing fourth in the UEFA Europa League table, Pellegrini’s men entered the European knockout phase full of confidence but they fell to a first-leg defeat away to Panathinaikos last week, and that on the back of a 2-0 reversal away to Getafe. They play their second leg on Thursday and I’d back Pellegrini’s men to turn that tie around. But they have gone five games without a win in all competitions and winger Antony has called on his team to change, before the situation worsens.
Betis are still comfortable in La Liga and, with Espanyol sliding down the table a fifth-place finish is well within their grasp, but Celta Vigo are staying strong in sixth and Real Sociedad have been steadily improving in seventh; so Los Verdiblancos still have plenty of work to do, to avoid a disappointing end to the campaign.
History
The Basque giants have had the better of the head-to-head Athletic Club vs Real Betis results, with 18 wins to Real Betis’ 12 from the last 45 meetings, while each team has won two of the last five encounters.
In terms of recent form neither side is happy; Bilbao have won two, drawn one and lost three from the last six games, but lost the last three of course, while Betis have won one, drawn three and lost two. The Athletic Club vs Real Betis betting odds say we will see a close battle at San Mames on Sunday; so let’s take a look at the latest odds.
Betting Tip
Athletic Club are the favourites to win this clash at odds of 2.05, with Betis at 3.25 and the draw is at 3.35 and there’s a case to be made for each outcome; particularly the draw. But I expect the hosts to go big in this game; time is running out and the men of Basque can’t afford to fail for lack of ambition. But, while Bilbao have drawn a blank in the last three games they haven’t kept a clean sheet in 18 games and Betis too need a result.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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