Athletic Bilbao – Real Madrid

It’s worth considering the high odds on Real

On Thursday, 5 December, Athletic will play at home against Real Madrid in a rescheduled match of the 19th round of La Liga. The game will take place on a weekday because of the Super Cup of the King. Will hold the meeting in advance. Both teams are in good form in La Liga, with Real becoming the tournament's shadow leader in points lost and Athletic breaking into the top 4 for the first time. Real, despite huge squad difficulties, retain their status as favourites with bookmakers in the championship. Madrid have won three matches in a row with a combined score of 9-0. However, it is important to look at the opponents: Getafe, Leganes and Osasuna. Also, two matches were played at home. In any case, it was important to get positive emotions after a long series of failures in the Champions League. The situation with the squad is close to critical. So much so that Ancelotti's team has young canterano Raul Asensio, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Diaz starting from the first minute. There aren't many options for rotation either. For example, in the last match Carlo Ancelotti used only two substitutions, releasing Luka Modric and Arda Guler. The situation will not improve dramatically. A positive moment is the performance of Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman has started scoring regularly in the Spanish league. Mbappe is already among the top three scorers in La Liga with eight goals. Athletic is one of the hottest teams in La Liga over the ten rounds. Only Real Madrid and Atletico have scored more in this stretch. The Basques, after a poor start, are in contention for a long-awaited trip to the Champions League. In the last round, Atletico secured a hard-fought away win over Rayo Vallecano. The hero was again midfielder Oian Sunset. The footballer has already scored seven goals in the current championship. Returned to optimal performances and Nico Williams: the main asset of the club goes on a series of four consecutive matches with goal assists. Iñaki Williams is not bored either - seven productive actions. Real in recent years quite confidently plays with Atletico just in La Liga. There are no defeats for nine years. In 2015, the legendary Aritz Aduriz scored the winning goal. Now bookmakers believe in the potential success of the Basques. The odds are very low for a meeting with Real Madrid - 3.40. Indeed, a lot of things speak in favour of the hosts: Real have difficulties with the squad, a lot of unpleasant rumours around the team. At the same time, it was in La Liga that Madrid lost only to Barcelona. Athletic also does not have a lot of opportunities for rotation. The Basques need to play with the understanding that already on the eighth of December there will be an equally important match with Villarreal. Real should still have the advantage, and the hosts will not give up a draw.