La Liga: Real Betis Need a Response Against Athletic Bilbao

Real Betis vs Athletic Bilbao

The law of averages have seemingly caught up with Real Betis in these past few weeks. With back-to-back La Liga losses, their European aspirations have taken a huge blow.

So when they head back home to Benito Villamarin, they’re in a must-win situation when they host Athletic Bilbao this Sunday.

Real Betis were the unlikely lads who were flying high as they went up to third at one point. However, as of the moment, they’re now at sixth place at the table with 46 points.

Athletic Bilbao, on the other hand, have risen to eighth place with 40 points despite their inconsistent form. If only they could string together a couple of wins, they’d be much higher at the table.

Both sides made it to the Copa del Rey semis, but unfortunately only Real Betis advanced to the final. So at least in this match, SBOTOP football fans can get a glimpse on what would’ve been if Athletic Bilbao made it too.

Talking Points

Real Betis are slipping down

Now that they’re faced with adversity for the first time in a long while, this is the right time for Los Verdiblancos to show everyone what they’re made of.

Manuel Pellegrini, after all, is a manager with winning pedigree. And we expect a major response for them in this upcoming match.

Despite their losing streak here in La Liga – back-to-back against Atletico Madrid and Sevilla – Real Betis won’t lack in confidence because of the fact that they’re one step closer to ending their trophy drought. They will face Valencia in the Copa del Rey final and they’re the favourites to win.

Borja Iglesias, Sergio Canales, and Nabil Fekir have been the heart of Real Betis’ attacking threat, but it’s clear that they aren’t as dangerous as they should be without their top striker in Juanmi.

Juanmi sat out a couple of games and he came off the bench against Atletico Madrid. He also started for the first time against Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League Round of 16 tie. And while he wasn’t as effective against the Bundesliga side, we expect him to bounce back on Sunday.

Athletic Bilbao’s European dreams are alive

Athletic Bilbao manager Marcelino has made it clear that getting in to Europe is their main objective, and their victory over bottom feeders Levante has put him in a great mood following their loss against Valencia in the Copa del Rey semis.

Levante were hard to break down in the first 60 minutes, but Mikel Vesga’s opener in the 62^nd-minute gave them the lead for good and Inaki Williams and Oier Zarraga added two more goals to put the game away.

Marcelino was particularly happy with his boys’ defencive performance as they were able to limit Levante to only two shots on target. And against a strong squad like Real Betis, they need to do something similar.

 

History

Athletic Bilbao are a huge thorn to Real Betis here in La Liga. Los Leones have only lost one of their last 10 league meetings against Los Verdiblancos (W7, D2).

The only loss came during their game in December 2019 when Joaquin Sanchez’s first-ever hat-trick sparked Real Betis to a 3-2 victory. 

Furthermore, Athletic Bilbao have won five of their last 11 La Liga visits at the Benito Villamarin (D3, L3), which is as many wins as in their last 40 away league games against them (D15, L20).

Real Betis are in danger of having their worst run under Manuel Pellegrini. If they’ll lose this match, they will suffer three straight defeats in the competition for the first time since November 2020.

Their reverse fixture in December was a 3-2 victory for Athletic Bilbao. Inaki Williams had a brace and Oscar de Marcos scored once for Los Leones, while Juanmi and Nabil Fekir found the back of the net for Los Verdiblancos.

Betting Tip

The La Liga 2022 odds have Real Betis as the favourites to win in this contest. Los Verdiblancos are installed at 2.26 to win, while Athletic Bilbao are priced at 3.10 and chances for a draw are at 3.25 in the 1X2 market.

Over 2.25 @ 1.80 is also a good bet considering how their reverse fixture went and because of the fact that both sides can generate La Liga 2022 highlights. Athletic Bilbao can give Real Betis all they can handle, especially taking into account their record over them. But in the end, the hosts should have enough to grind out a much-needed win at home.

 

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