Do the Basques nail the box again?
At the end of the first matchday of the new season in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao welcome the team from Mallorca. The home side have been solid in their final test matches, including a 1-0 win over league rivals Real Sociedad.
But the guests are also quite ready for the start of the season: In the penultimate test match, they held SSC Napoli to a draw and had already won against the Spanish second division team from Gijon.
For the match at the San Mames between Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca, the tip is still for a home win with zero points.
Athletic Bilbao – Statistics & current form
The Basques finished in eighth place in the final standings of last season and thus missed out on participation in the international business by a hair’s breadth. This means that coach Ernesto Valverde’s team can now concentrate completely on the domestic competitions.
As is always the case in Bilbao after a season, the squad was mainly filled with players from the second teams – for example with the two wingers Nico Serrano and Juan Artola. Furthermore, no prominent departures can be discovered.
The latter point is nothing new either, as Bilbao’s contracts are usually fulfilled on a very long-term basis due to their restrictive personnel policy, which only includes players who were born or educated in the Basque regions.
Bilbao is strong at home
The Rojiblancos will also be banking on home advantage in the upcoming match. Last season, the home side scored 13 points more on home soil compared to away games. They also scored more than twice as many goals.
Against this backdrop, betting on at least two goals by the hosts in the duel between Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca is a good idea.
Due to the parallel weakness of the visitors last season, the odds on a home win, including an interval lead for the country’s eight-time champions, are also worth considering.
A run of play that was seen in no less than eight of RCD’s 18 visiting games last term – together with Getafe, this represented the highest in La Liga.
Villalibre with appealing form
On the offensive, hopes are once again pinned on Asier Villalibre. The striker scored his team’s only goal in the 1-1 draw against Alaves in the last test match and scored a brace in the comparison with Mirandes at the end of July. The 24-year-old is apparently in good early form.
Predicted line-up of Athletic Bilbao:
Simon – de Marcos – Balenziaga – Bilbao – Serrano – Capa – Garcia – Guruzeta – Petxa – Vencedor – Villalibre
Last matches played by Athletic Bilbao:
Friendly club matches
06/08/2022 – Athletic Bilbao 1 – 1 Deportivo Alaves
06/08/2022 – Athletic Bilbao 1 – 0 Real Sociedad
01/08/2022 – CD Mirandes 0 – 3 Athletic Bilbao
30/07/2022 – Newcastle 2 – 1 Athletic Bilbao
23/07/2022 – Mainz 05 1 – 1 Athletic Bilbao
Mallorca – Statistics & current form
The Balearic kickers managed to stay in the league by a hair’s breadth last season as the promoted side at the time. Thanks to two wins on the final days of the season, the visitors jumped from a relegation spot to 16th place.
Coach Javier Aguirre was not satisfied with his team’s performance away from home. Only Getafe, Espanyol and Alaves scored less in their away games. Furthermore, the “Pirates” only managed to win three of their 19 away games (3-3-13).
Scoring goals is not the Mallorcans’ core competence
Furthermore, RCD was fundamentally weak offensively: again, only three teams in La Liga scored fewer goals than the Mallorcans. At least the “Bermellones” were able to sign Vedat Muriqi, a powerful attacker, during the last season.
The Kosovar had previously played for Lazio Rome in the Italian Serie A and, with five goals in spite of only 16 league games, he and Salva Sevilla were the best performers for the visiting team!
The latter attacker, however, is now unavailable, having moved to relegated La Liga side Alaves. With this in mind, Muriqi will now be even more important.
Furthermore, the problems in attack have already surfaced again in the test matches: Only four goals were scored in the review of the last five preparation games.
Predicted line-up of Mallorca:
Rajkovic – Baba – Copete – Grenier – Costa – Kang-In – Maffeo – Raillo – Rodriguez – Valjent – Muriqi
Last matches played in Mallorca:
Club friendlies
08/08/2022 – UD Ibiza (5)0 – 0(6) Mallorca
01/08/2022 – SSC Napoli 1 – 1 Mallorca
28/07/2022 – Sporting Gijon 0 – 1 Mallorca
22/07/2022 – CFC Genoa 0 – 1 Mallorca
16/07/2022 – Wieczysta Krakow 0 – 3 Mallorca
Athletic Bilbao – Mallorca Direct comparison / H2H balance
Mallorca prevailed 3-2 on home soil in their last head-to-head encounter last February. The success allowed the visitors to end a drought of nine meetings with the “Lions” without a win (0-2-7).
Athletic Bilbao – Mallorca Tip
For the showdown between Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca, betting on a home win without conceding a goal seems to be profitable. The visitors had a very weak attack last season and no real reinforcements can be found in that part of the team.
Especially in the guest games with the Basques, they usually had big problems with scoring goals in the past: They have not won at the San Mames for more than twelve years and the last six outings always ended with a defeat.
Of these, two thirds were garnished with a clean sheet for the hosts. Another factor in favour of the prediction is that the 23-time Spanish Cup winners have already been strong defensively again in their test matches.
The “Leones” have won two of their last three matches of this type to nil, including against a powerful
including against a powerful opponent in the shape of Basque league rivals Real Sociedad.
Moreover, the Basque defence was very solid in home games last season, allowing less than one goal on average, and only four teams in the Spanish top flight were better at nailing home goals.
Although there is still a question mark over the use of number one Unai Simon and his replacement Julen Agirrezabala is also injured, the Spanish international goalkeeper, who is suffering from a shoulder problem, should be fit for kick-off.
