Athletic Bilbao-Betis is a match of the thirty-third day of La Liga and is played Thursday at 10 pm: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
The feeling is that the train for fourth place and the Champions League has passed for both. Real Sociedad has won their last two games practically digging a furrow between fourth and fifth place, now occupied by Villarreal.
At Athletic Bilbao and Betis, barring sensational comebacks – the gap is quite wide – all that remains is to duel for sixth position, which at the end of the season could be worth qualifying for the Europa League or the Conference: everything will depend on the King’s Cup final between Real Madrid and Osasuna, scheduled for Saturday. It has a lot to regret for Manuel Pellegrini’s team, which has slipped somewhat worryingly since March, dropping out of the cups and progressively out of the Champions race as well. Since last April 2, Betis has barely won a game, moreover beating an opponent fighting not to relegate like Espanyol. That remains the only joy for the green-and-whites in the last month and a half, who now run the serious risk of finishing out of it all.
Basques dream of overtaking
Since the success over the Catalans, the Andalusian formation has lost away matches in Pamplona and Barcelona (3-2 and 4-0) and has not gone beyond a 0-0 at home in the direct clash with Real Sociedad. By contrast, the last victory for Pellegrini’s men away from their home crowd dates back to February.
Willian Jose del Betis
Dreaming of overtaking, then, Ernesto Valverde’s Basques, who in the event of a victory in the midweek round would leapfrog Betis into sixth place. To do so, Athletic must return to winning ways: it hasn’t done so for two days, in which it was mocked at the San Mames by Sevilla (0-1) and forced into a draw by Mallorca, which was reached in the last minute by a penalty from Inaki Williams.
The Prediction
Athletic Bilbao, despite a few too many absences-Valverde has to give up Yeray and Munian, while finding Sancet-should manage to get a positive result against a Betis in identity crisis. We expect at least one goal on either side.
The probable lineups of Athletic Bilbao-Betis
- ATHLETIC BILBAO (4-2-3-1): Unai Simón; Yuri, Aitor Paredes, Vivian, de Marcos; Vesga, Dani García; Nico Williams, Sancet, Iñaki Williams; Guruzeta.
- BETIS (4-2-3-1): Rui Silva; Miranda, Pezzella, Akouokou, Ruibal; Guardado, Guido Rodriguez; Canales, William Carvalho, Luiz Henrique; Ayoze Pérez.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
