LiontipsBesiktas vs Athletic Bilbao. Europa League Match Prediction and Bets
Command Analysis
Current form
Besiktas' results do not satisfy the club management, and on January 19, the head coach was changed. Instead of Serdar Topraktepe, 51-year-old Norwegian specialist Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the helm of the Turkish team, and he will face a serious test in the first match, because he will not play with some unknown team, but with a strong Spanish club. The hosts are only one point behind the 24th place, which allows them to go to the playoffs, so gaining points in the upcoming meeting is very important. At home, the team has not lost for four games in a row, so, of course, the fans have hope that the players and the coach will make every effort to please the fans and break into the top 24.
Disqualifications and injuries
Sanuch, Paulista, Zainutdinov, Terzi and Uysal are injured and will not take to the field.
Interesting trends for betting
- Besiktas have gone five games in a row without defeat.
- The hosts have scored in nine of their last ten matches
Tentative line-up: Gunok - Svensson, Topchu, Uduohai, Masuaku - Uchan, Al Musrati - Rashica, Rafa Silva, Muchi - Kilicsoy.
Current form
Athletic Bilbao shows impressive results. In Primera, the team is in fourth place in the standings. But the club has also had its failures. Since the beginning of 2025, Ernesto Valverde team has managed to fly out of two tournaments. First, they failed to reach the Super Cup final, losing to Barcelona with a score of 0:2, and then they played in the Spanish Cup with Osasuna and also suffered a fiasco, albeit a minimal one (2:3). In the national championship, everything is in order. Only on additional indicators are they losing third place to Barcelona.
It is worth mentioning the game in the Europa League, where Athletic did not lose a single match in six rounds played: a draw in the first round, and then five victories in a row. Also, one cannot ignore the fact that this team has the best defense in the European Cup, because they have conceded only two goals, while they have scored 11.
Injuries and disqualifications
Sanchez will not be able to take the field due to injury.
Interesting trends for betting
- Athletic Bilbao are unbeaten in nine away games
- The visitors have conceded in the last three matches
Probable line-up: Padilla - Lecue, Vivian, Inigo Martinez, Ballenciaga - Vesga, Zubimendi, Muniain - Nico Williams, Raul Garcia, Inaki Williams.
Trends
Bet Exact score 1:2
The visitors won their last two victories with this score
7.20Athletic Bilbao to score in second half
In the last two games the bet came in
1.72Besiktas to score in first half
In two of the last three matches, Besiktas scored only before the break
2.60Tip and bets
Besiktas has problems in defense. Four main players are injured: Terzi, Zainutdinov, Uysal and Talic. It is unlikely that the head coach will be able to find a quality replacement for them, so with such problems it will be difficult for Besiktas to fight for any points in the match even on its home field. We will bet on Athletic Bilbao extending its winning streak in the Europa League to six matches in a row.
Our prediction is a victory for Athletic with odds of 1.77
Bet on total
Besiktas have problems in the defense, but their attack is in perfect order. In front of local fans, the hosts managed to score in nine of the last ten matches, while the visitors have scored in all tournaments in 14 of the last 15 meetings. Such high-quality indicators in attack indicate that there is a high probability that both opponents will be able to score.
Our prediction is both teams to score with odds of 1.67
Bet on corners
Besiktas will most likely focus on attacking actions, because there is little hope for defense due to injuries to many key players. Athletic Bilbao will accept these rules of the game, and, as we believe, the two teams will make many corner kicks.
Our prediction is total over 8.5 corners with odds of 1.60
