Athletic Bilbao vs Osasuna - Spanish Primera Division

SPANISH PRIMERA DIVISION,-  On Monday night in Espana, we make our La Liga picks and our Athletic Bilbao vs. Osasuna predictions in the Spanish Primera. These two teams are both going to be threatened by the relegation bug this year, and taking points from this match is key for both teams.

Bilbao qualified for the Europa League playoff this year, and they got the job done, getting in past Trabzonspor, a team which has had its own problems with UEFA. Thus far this year in Spain though, things have been tougher for this side. Domestic play has been disappointing to say the least.

Amongst the disappointing results were a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano and a 1-0 loss at Malaga. The good news is that Atletico came up with a huge 2-1 road win at Real Sociedad on October 2nd, the most recent game.

The man of the hour is Fernando Llorente, who already has three strikes amongst the seven goals scored on the season. The bad news is that those seven goals are in six fixtures, a scoring average which simply won’t cut it. There aren’t many teams that have scored fewer goals than Bilbao this year, and if that doesn’t change, success in the Spanish Primera is going to be difficult.

Meanwhile, things for Osasuna haven’t been all that great this year either. The team has played to three straight draws since September 20th. Two of the three matches have come at home at the Reyno de Navarra. The other match was at Granada, the type of fixture that should be won more often than not.

What we have to remember when we look at the results for this team this year is that there is an 8-0 loss at Barcelona. Sure, there’s never really an excuse to get beaten 8-0 in a match, but knowing that it came against one of the best sides in the entire world is a bit more excusable.
Scoring goals has been real problem, though. Osasuna has scored three goals in its last two fixtures, but before that, the team only bagged one goal in four matches.

Last year, this was a fixture that was dominated Bilbao. The team won 1-0 at home and 2-1 on the road. The fixture at home was fantastic, knowing that Carlos Gurpegi was able to nail the late winner in stoppage time.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Bilbao is the odds on favorite in this match, as things really should be turning around for this side at some point. Still, at -120 on the three-way betting lines, it’s not a given that three points are going to end up on the side of the hosts even though Osasuna only has one victory all season long.

Possible Line-Ups :
Athletic Bilbao : Iraizoz – Iraola, Ekiza, Amorebieta, De Marcos, Susaeta, Javi Martinez, Iturraspe, Muniain, Llorente, Gabilondo.
Osasuna : Fernandez – Bertran, Sergio, Roversio, Raitala, Nekounam, Punal, Lamah, Garcia, Cejudo, Nino.

Betting Tip/Prediction :
In our opinion the time for Athletic Bilbao to secure a win at home and in front of their supporters had come and this team would give everything just to not fail once more as would be the fourth match in a row at home to not have taken a win. In this situation and seeing that Athletic Bilbao needs badly a win at home for motivation and to prove that they can turn the direction in the right side than i believe that Athletic Bilbao would secure the first win at home in this new season.