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Real Sociedad vs Ath Bilbao Prediction & Betting tips
On Saturday afternoon at the Anoeta in San Sebastian it’s time for the Basque regional derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. Apart from the sporting honor, there is little more for both teams, although they are both indebted to their fans.
Real Sociedad:
Real Sociedad did not come near the sixth place last year for this season and never really mixed up in the battle for European football. Still, the fans of the blue-whites will go to the stadium on Saturday afternoon with a reasonably optimistic feeling, because since former head coach Eusebio has been replaced by interim manager Imanol Alguacil, Real Sociedad has found its way up again. Last weekend, although 2-0 was lost at last minute, Malaga, but the previous four matches under Imanol yielded no less than ten points. An end classification in the left row now suddenly belongs to the possibilities. Because of the excellent performance under Imanol, the board has temporarily put its search for a new head coach on the back burner.
Real Sociedad will be on Saturday afternoon in any case well equipped to the kickoff appear, because last week in and against Malaga gave Imanol several kleppers rest. Aritz Elustondo, Raul Navas, Asier Illarramendi, Mikel Oyarzabal and Willian Jose, or five of the six players who made the most minutes this season, stayed outside the basic eleven in the Rosaleda. They will undoubtedly stand up to arch-rival Athletic Bilbao again. In particular, the return in the basic eleven of club top scorer Willian Jose (fourteen goals) will sound like music to the fans. In spite of the poor season, La Real scores particularly well in their own home. The team was at home 41 times this season, which is an equalization of the club record since the Anoeta was put into use 25 years ago.
Athletic Bilbao:
Athletic Bilbao also has a season full of doom and gloom. Trainer Kuko Ziganda has not succeeded in following in the footsteps of Ernesto Valverde and seems to be on his way to the exit of the San Mames. Among others current PSG trainer Unai Emery is mentioned as one of the possible successors, but Los Leones seem to plan to finish the season with Ziganda first.
With only two victories in the last eleven matches Athletic Bilbao does not succeed in getting out of her sporting valley. Last weekend, the red-witted were, for the home audience, no chance at all, 1-3 to beat relegation candidate Levante. The main problem is that the Basques still do not have a center peak. Aritz Aduriz has always played the role of goalgetter in recent years, but he can not shine every week because of his old age and is also a doubt again this weekend. Inaki Williams is his intended successor, but also against Levante he did not know how to make it happen again. The fact that Williams has not been able to score in his own house in La Liga for about a year and a half now naturally says enough. His seven league goals were all made in away games, in which he can become dangerous on the counter with his speed. However, he does not have that typical nose for the goal.
Real Sociedad vs Ath Bilbao head to head matches
16.12.17 LL Ath Bilbao Real Sociedad 0 : 0
12.03.17 LL Real Sociedad Ath Bilbao 0 : 2
16.10.16 LL Ath Bilbao Real Sociedad 3 : 2
21.02.16 LL Ath Bilbao Real Sociedad 0 : 1
27.09.15 LL Real Sociedad Ath Bilbao 0 : 0