Real Valladolid v Athletic Bilbao – Betting Preview
Real Valladolid Summary
Real Valladolid come into the game with Athletic Bilbao in reasonable form and mood.
They settled for a 1-1 draw in the last game against Elche. Not a great result considering they held the lead for around 85 minutes, but it was seen as a must not lose match.
Valladolid put reasonable ground between them and the bottom three thanks to a scattering of wins from mid-January, including the vital wins against other relegation fighting teams like Espanyol.
They tend to rely on home form and so although they respect the Basques, they’ll aim for a victory but settle for a point.
Team news is mixed. Masip remains out and won’t be back for around a month.
Asenjo continues in goal, a veteran with good experience and quality, hasn’t let them down since coming into the team.
Hongla misses out with a suspension while Kenedy, Anuar and Selim Amallah all remain out.
Valladolid boss Pacheta is not expected to be able to recall Luis Pérez, but he has not been ruled out.
Athletic Club Summary
Athletic Bilbao felt like the narrow loss at home to Barcelona last weekend was very unjust.
They put in a strong showing in the second period but ultimately left frustrated in a 0-1 loss, though the players will take credit and confidence from the performance.
Inconsistency continues to plague them and seen them losing ground on the prospect of playing UEFA Champions league football next season.
The next target will be staying in touch with top six and to remain in contention for the Europa league places.
Only a victory will prevent them from losing further ground on 4th spot.
Athletic have mixed team news for the visit to Valladolid.
Ernesto Valverde is delighted to recall Oihan Sancet, whose finishing would have been beneficial last time out. He will replace Raul Garcia who was very ineffective playing the centre forward role last weekend
Unai Simón, Jon Morcillo, Íñigo Lekue, and Ander Herrera remain sidelined by injury.
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 market first. Valladolid is the outsider of the three options @ 3.55. The draw is @ 3.45 and Athletic is the favourite @ 2.05.
Moving onto the Asian handicap betting for this contest. Valladolid gets a big +0.5 @ 1.86 start, meaning the draw pays as a full win. The view here is that the Basques are opposable, Valladolid needs the points much more and are playing well at home.
Athletic -0.5@ 2.00 did play well late on against Barcelona, but they may not raise their game the same manner here.
Looking at The Under/Over goal betting last of all. The line is set at 2.25, the over is @ 1.88 and the Under is @ 1.95.
