Atletico Madrid to secure clean-sheet win against Athletic Bilbao

Atlético Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao - 19/02/2023

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Atletico Madrid welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Civitas Metropolitano on Sunday afternoon, with the two sides separated by six points in the La Liga table.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid lead seventh-placed Athletico Bilbao, while the visitors find themselves one point outside the European spots.

Both teams are in good form ahead of Sunday’s showdown, so this is destined to be an intriguing encounter between two well-drilled sides.

Let’s start by looking at the hosts, Atletico Madrid, who have avoided defeat in each of their previous five La Liga encounters.

Diego Simeone’s men have taken 11 points from a possible 18 since the turn of the year, picking up three wins and two draws in the process.

However, Atletico are out of both the Champions League and Copa del Rey, while the La Liga title is already out of reach.

On a brighter note, only Barcelona have conceded fewer goals than Atletico’s 17 this season – meaning they boast one the meanest defences in the division.

As for Athletic Bilbao, they head into Sunday’s encounter on the back of two successive victories in La Liga.

Following a 4-1 win against Cadiz, Bilbao claimed an impressive 2-1 victory at Valencia last weekend – picking up their ninth league win of the campaign.

It is worth noting that Athletic endured a five-game winless run in La Liga across December and January, registering back-to-back draws before suffering three straight defeats.

However, the club from the Basque Country have upped their game in recent weeks and will fancy their chances of frustrating Atletico as a result.

Head-to-head: Atletico Madrid have only managed to win one of their last five meetings with Athletic Bilbao across all competitions.

When you look at the bigger picture, however, Atletico have lost just four of their previous 22 matches against Bilbao.

Team news: Atletico Madrid will be without the suspended Stefan Savic on Sunday, as the centre-back picked up a red card last weekend.

On the flip side, Athletic Bilbao’s Ander Herrera is sidelined due to a muscle injury, while Inigo Martinez is a doubt for Sunday’s clash.

Given Atletico’s impressive defensive record, the hosts are expected to keep Athletic Bilbao quiet on Sunday.

Forebet predicts that Atletico Madrid will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to defeating Athletic Bilbao.

Home team
Away team

Probability %

1X2

Pred

Correct score

Avg. goals

Weather conditions

Coef.

Score

Live
coef.

Es1

Atlético Madrid Athletic Bilbao 19/02/2023 18:30

432927

1

2 - 0

2.48

18°

2.05

2.05 3.30 3.80 no no no

FT

1 - 0(0 - 0)

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