Prediction and odds for the game: Athletic Club (7/2) v Barcelona (3/4)
We are backing the away win
When: Thursday 06th February 2020, Kick-off 8 PM
Where: San Mames
On Thursday night, Athletic Club host Barcelona at San Mames in one of the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey.
Athletic Club
The Basque team head into this clash on the back of a mixed set of recent results. However, a 2-0 home defeat against Getafe last time out ended a nine-game unbeaten run for Athletic in all competitions.
The boys from Bilbao tend to be involved in tight, low-scoring games, illustrated by the fact that six of their last eight competitive games have produced under 2.5 goals.
The home side have already been through four rounds of the competition to book their quarter-final spot, beating lower league teams Intercity, Sestao River, Elche and last time out Tenerife. However, they have needed penalty shootouts to see off the latter two opponents in this competition.
Athletic have a mixed recent record in this competition on home soil, winning three and losing three of their games. They actually faced the visitors in two of those six games, winning once and suffering one defeat, with both games finishing 2-1.
Barcelona
It is still early days in the Barcelona coaching career of new boss Quique Setien. A 2-1 home win over Levante last time out means that the Catalan giants have won four of their five games under the former Real Betis boss.
The visitors have been relatively prolific of late, managing to score at least twice in five of their last seven games in all competitions. However, the Blaugrana have also managed only three clean sheets in 12 matches in all competitions.
Barcelona have a slightly mixed recent record in the Copa del Rey. However, they have won four of their last six matches in the competition, while suffering just one defeat. The one defeat was a crucial one, as it meant the visitors lost last season’s final 2-1 against Valencia.
This season Barcelona have beaten Ibiza 2-1 before seeing off Leganes 5-0 at the Nou Camp in the last round. The fact that they have scored at least two goals in three of their last four Copa games will come as little surprise considering their firepower.
The visitors have won five of their last seven away games in the Copa del Rey, including wins at Real Madrid and Ibiza, in very different circumstances.
Conclusion
Athletic Club are always a tough team to beat, especially at San Mames. However, the Barcelona players seem to be slowly adjusting to Setien’s methods, which why we are backing the away win. We are also taking a slight punt by backing under 2.5 goals scored, as Athletic are usually pretty solid and the last five meetings between these two teams have produced under 2.5 goals.
Verdict: We are backing the away win at odds of 3/ 4 and or under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 3/ 4. (All odds are taken from Bet365)
[geosnippet id=3620]Are you looking for a bookmaker to place your bet on Athletic Club v Barcelona? Well, check out our betting page for our recommended bookmakers. If this was to your liking check out many more tips articles on our soccer predictions page, where we publish two articles daily.
Who will progress to the last four of the Copa del Rey?
