Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Manchester United
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Today’s secondary featured game is the UEFA Europa League game in Spain between Athletic Bilbao and Manchester United.
In the first leg, Athletic were the better side. They wanted it more, they fought harder, and they created more chances. I expect more of the same from this game because United don’t want to be in this competition and I can’t think of anything to demonstrate that more than their lacklustre displays in the UEFA Europa League thus far. I’d like to blame that entirely on the mediocre competition that United are in but to be honest, United have been very ineffectual in Europe throughout this season. I’ve seen United play one, possibly two, good halves of football in European football this season. I don’t know what it is but something isn’t clicking and the loss of motivation for this game makes it even harder for United to get a result here.
Then we have to take into consideration that this isn’t your average away game. San Mames is a cauldron of noise and passion where Athletic fans will accept nothing but good football and wins against even the biggest of sides. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia – they all struggle to play well here. Athletic cover more of the field than most people realise and their pace, skill, and finesse make them an absolute nightmare to handle. Athletic outplayed local rivals Osasuna at weekend but lost 2-1 in a game that exposed their weakest area – defence. They’re weak at the back (largely due to fielding two midfielders there in the average game) but they’re also hopeless from set pieces. Well, when it comes to defending them, that is! Both of Athletic’s goals conceded at weekend came from defensive mistakes with the first one being the most embarrassing; a lack of communication caused Ander Iturraspe to flick the ball over his own goalkeeper from the edge of the eighteen yard box. Still, that lack of communication should improve today with nutcase Amorebieta back at the heart of defence following his suspension. Athletic are dynamite when it comes to attacking and considering that both Herrera and Llorente got a bit of a rest at weekend, they should be in good enough shape to get a positive result here.
No, Athletic don’t need to win this game but if you watch this side and you know their fans and their manager Bielsa then you’ll know that this side will always go for the win. United aren’t playing well enough in Europe to get a positive result here, in my view, and I don’t think they’ll be motivated enough to do it. I’d be dubious even if United were motivated and weren’t missing a couple of important players, such is the difficulty of this game, but United are not interested and Athletic are so I expect the hosts to progress with a win in this game. I think we can expect plenty of cards and goals but I don’t see Athletic losing here without a catastrophic display so my call is to take the home win with draw no bet cover.
Verdict: Athletic Club de Bilbao to win with draw no bet at 11/10.
Thursday’s Picks
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
Copa Libertadores:
Juan Aurich vs Santos (6) 1-1
Flamengo vs Olimpia Asuncion (7) 2-1
UEFA Europa League:
Hannover 96 vs Standard de Liege (6) 1-0
PSV Eindhoven vs Valencia CF (4) 1-2
Udinese vs AZ Alkmaar (5) 1-0
Athletic Club de Bilbao vs Manchester United (6) over 2.5 goals
Olympiakos Piraeus vs Metalist Kharkiv (5) 2-2
Manchester City vs Sporting Clube de Lisboa (7) 2-0
Schalke 04 vs Twente Enschede (7) 2-1
Besiktas JK vs Atletico Madrid (5) 0-1
Singaporean S-League:
Tampines Rovers vs Tanjong Pagar (8) 2-0
Hougang United vs Home United (7) 1-2
Enjoy your free betting tips!