Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Sociedad – betting tip, prediction, odds for the La Liga match (20.02.2022, 21:00 CET)

The 25th matchday in the Spanish La Liga will be played this weekend. The Basque regional derby Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Sociedad will take place on Sunday at 21:00. Thus, the eighth and the sixth meet, with the Leones and the Txuri-urdines taking 34 and 38 points respectively. Juan Martínez is in charge of the match at the Estadio de San Mamés.

Athletic Bilbao suffered a 2-3 at 15th-placed RCD Mallorca on 14 February. This snapped a run of four unbeaten games in which the Leones won three times. On that occasion, Marcelino García’s side’s only loss of points came in a 0-0 at another regional rival, Deportivo Alavés. Thereafter, there were first a 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano and a 2-1 home win against RCD Espanyol.

For Real Sociedad, this regional derby comes between the matches against RB Leipzig in the play-off for the Europa League knockout round. The first leg at the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga on Thursday saw Imanol Alguacil’s team draw 2-2. Four days earlier, the Txuri-urdines celebrated a 2-0 home win against fourth-bottom Granada. This marked their return to winning ways after two 0-0 at home against Getafe and at Valencia.

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What speaks for Athletic Bilbao?

  • The home advantage
  • Won three of their four championship matches before the defeat at Mallorca
  • Did not play a match during the week and therefore focused exclusively on this derby

What speaks for Real Sociedad?

  • Unbeaten in four La Liga appearances with two wins and as many draws
  • Have not conceded any goals in those matches
  • Has fewer absentees to overcome

Our betting tip:

  • Bet: Both teams to score goals – No
  • Bookmaker: Betway
  • Odds: 1.83

Expert analysis Athletic Bilbao

At the end of the 24th matchday, Athletic Bilbao suffered a 2-3 away defeat against RCD Mallorca on Monday. Here, the 15th from the Balearic Islands were leading 2-0 after half an hour. The Leones equalized thanks to a double strike by Raúl García (59th) and Álex Berenguer (61st). But just before the final whistle, goalkeeper Unai Simón shattered the fightback with an incredible own goal.

This broke Athletic Bilbao’s positive streak of four unbeaten league games. To be precise, Marcelino García’s team won three times and drew 0-0 at Deportivo Alavés in between.

After the draw at the third-bottom team from the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz, the Leones initially achieved two successes in La Liga. Here, they celebrated a 1-0 at eleventh-placed Rayo Vallecano and a 2-1 in front of their own crowd against 13th-placed RCD Espanyol.

From today’s perspective, Marcelino García will be without four players for the Basque regional derby Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Sociedad. Two of them, right-backs Ander Capa and Óscar de Marcos contracted COVID-19. Additionally, central midfielder Unai Vencedor and attacking player Nico Williams are injured.

Expert analysis Real Sociedad

For the visitors, the Basque regional derby Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad falls between the matches against RB Leipzig in the play-off for the Europa League Europa League knockout round. The first of these took place on 17 February at the Saxons and ended 2-2.

Imanol Alguacil’s team took the lead in the eighth minute thanks to Robin Le Normand. After Christopher Nkunku equalized in the 30th minute, Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 64th minute. However, Emil Forsberg managed to draw level for the fourth-placed team in the Bundesliga in the final phase using the same method.

In La Liga, Real Sociedad most recently conceded a goal in a 1-1 away draw against Deportivo Alavés at the beginning of January. The Txuri-urdines then before the international break recorded at home a 1-0 against tenth-placed Celta de Vigo and a 0-0 against fifth-bottom Getafe. This was followed so far by another goalless draw at twelfth-placed Valencia and a 2-0 home win over fourth-last-placed Granada on 13 February.

After a huge cluster around the turn of the year, Real Sociedad seem to be spared from COVID-19 at the moment. The other side of the coin is that there are two long-term injuries in left-back Nacho Monreal and striker Carlos Fernández. Moreover, with Ander Barrenetxea another offensive player is not fit for action.

Head-to-head comparison Athletic Bilbao – Real Sociedad

The first Basque regional derby Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Sociedad in La Liga 2021/2022 took place on 31 October. The Leones and the Txuri-urdines drew 1-1, with Iker Muniain equalizing for the home side in the 91st minute.

Last season, the teams played each other three times. Athletic Bilbao first experienced two 0-1 home defeats against Real Sociedad in La Liga and the Copa del Rey. They then drew 1-1 away, whereby again the Txuri-urdines equalized immediately before the final whistle with Roberto López.

Our betting tip and the best odds

Before the regional Basque derby, Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid, both teams seemed to be unbeaten for five championship games. Then Unai Simón’s own goal in the final phase on Mallorca stopped the Leones’ streak. Consequently, we recommend against three-way bets.

In contrast, we do not expect both teams to net. Real Sociedad didn’t concede a goal in any of their last four La Liga appearances so far. On the one hand, the Txuri-urdines faced teams ranked below Athletic Bilbao. And on the other one, Celta de Vigo and Valencia respectively picked up three and four points less than the Leones. Furthermore, two results of the home side, the 0-0 at Deportivo Alavés and the 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano, underpin our tip.

Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Sociedad – betting tip: Both teams score goals – No, odds 1.83 at bookmaker Betway

Alice Kopp
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By Alice Kopp

Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football. Since she has loved writing since childhood, Alice began to study journalism while still at school. It was very convenient for her that her class took part in a project of a German daily newspaper. She was also allowed to write for the children's pages of an Austrian daily newspaper and to get a taste of the sports department of the same medium. This is how she received her first press accreditations, which was of course anything but a matter of course for the then 18-year-old. Although she was partly advised against it, Alice decided to study journalism and communication sciences. After a few years, she decided to use the exams she had taken as an elective. Nevertheless, she applies the knowledge she has acquired in her further professional life. The same applies to her language skills. In addition to her mother tongues German and Italian, Alice is also proficient in English and Spanish. She also understands French and can use this language in research. During her studies, Alice was involved in an Austrian football club. At the same time, she wrote for a total of three Austrian portals and worked as an Austria correspondent for an Italian-language online medium. This collaboration started during Giovanni Trapattoni's era at Red Bull Salzburg and continued during EURO 2008. This gave her the opportunity to interact with Trapattoni as well as with Italian journalists. From the following year, Alice initially worked with a Swiss portal before discovering sports betting content for herself. On the one hand, this kept her in sports journalism, and on the other, it broadened her horizons. And that both in the context of the sports betting industry and with other sports as well as countries. In the field of sports journalism, she focused in particular on football from around the world, volleyball and beach volleyball. In addition, she naturally wrote several guides, bookmaker profiles, bonus articles and other content for betting enthusiasts. She did this for the same company for about ten years, writing articles in German and Italian. She also built the Italian-language website together with the managing director. Meanwhile, Alice started working with another Austrian football club. Furthermore, she joined the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS) in 2016. This gives her the opportunity to watch teams and athletes on the ground relatively often. Not only sports betting, but also radio In January 2019, the next step in her professional development followed. For: she started creating premium content on the topic of sports betting. In the process, she finally put out feelers to almost all countries and all continents. And this was not least due to the fact that both German and English-speaking users subscribed to her content. Nevertheless, Alice continued to use her knowledge of Italian, among other things. On the one hand, because she regularly exchanges ideas with Italian colleagues, and on the other, because she works with a web radio station. The Corona crisis had a strong impact on the sports world and on interest in sports betting, primarily in the early days. Therefore, a fresh start was necessary and, on balance, Alice found the fields of activity that suited her best. She also writes articles for an agency on almost all disciplines as well as on eSports and content for a German online medium. Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football.