Athletic Bilbao vs Atletico Madrid Prediction 16.12.2023

• Competition: LaLiga
• Date: 16th December 2023
• Time:  15:15 UTC / 16:15 CET
• Venue: Estadio San Mamés (Bilbao)

Bilbao has been playing very high quality and competitive this season as well. At the moment, they hold the 5th position in the table with 29 points. They are undefeated in the last six league matches, and in the last round they drew 1:1 on the road against Granada. This was a game which due to a tragic event in the stands, was played in two days, and the break obviously was not comfortable to Ath. Bilbao, who the next day still failed to preserve the advantage they gained at the beginning of the match. The tragic of his team was Ruiz de Galarreta, who clumsily put the ball into his own net at the beginning of the second half, thus preventing his club from getting another three points.

Before this clash Atl. Madrid had the last round of the group stage of the Champions League and secured the first place in the group with a routine 2:0 victory over Lazio. So the Madrid players made a good prelude for this match in which they will try to win and keep pace with the leading teams in the league. At the moment, they are 7 points behind the leader Girona, but they have played one game less. In the last LaLiga match, they beat Almeria 2:1 at home. Although after the first half and a 2:0 lead, it seemed that they would routinely bring the game to nice finish, in the end they still had to work hard to secure three new points.

Ath. Bilbao vs Atl. Madrid pick: UNDER 2.5 GOALS

Now, traditionally, the duels of these clubs in previous seasons have not been coloured with attractive play and a large number of goals. Both mutual matches of the previous season Atl. Madrid decided in their favor with a minimal result. In addition to Madrid's victories, that match was marked by a large number of fouls, game interruptions and yellow cards. Although Atl. Madrid has shown this season that this squad has the quality to play with a different, attacking style of play, it is unlikely that this will be the case on this visit. It is more realistic to expect that Cholo Simeone's strategy will be to leave possession of the ball and the initiative to the home team, and that the visitors will patiently wait for their chance from the counter attack and possible Bilbao error. Under 2.5 goals is the most logical choice.