Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid

La Liga pacesetters Real Madrid head to Nuevo San Mamés to take on mid-table Athletic Bilbao in their last league fixture in 2021.

Athletic Bilbao came out on top of a topsy-turvy five-goal thriller at the weekend, coming from a 2-1 deficit to beat high-flying Real Betis 3-2 home. Those three goals scored against the Andalusians are as many as they managed across their previous seven La Liga fixtures combined. Indeed, ‘Los Leones’ have netted a measly average of 0.88 goals per league match this season, bagging 2+ goals per game in just four (22%) of their 18 La Liga outings to date. However, it’s worth noting that a clear majority (75%) of their top-flight goals scored this term arrived on home turf (12/16). That should encourage Athletic’s bid to halt a frustrating 13-game winless La Liga streak against Real Madrid (D4, L9), last beating this opposition in Spain’s top-flight in March 2015 at this venue.

On the other hand, Cadiz’s stubborn defensive performance at the Santiago Bernabeu at the weekend saw Real Madrid slump to an underwhelming scoreless draw, ending a run of seven La Liga wins on the trot. But it also means that ‘Los Blancos’ are now unbeaten in their last ten league matches (W8, D2), keeping a clean sheet in each of the last four in a row. Since falling to a shock 2-1 defeat at newly-promoted Espanyol in October, Carlo Ancelotti’s men have won their subsequent four La Liga away games, netting 2+ goals on each occasion. Another successful midweek appears to be on the cards, considering that ‘Los Merengues’ have won four of their previous five competitive meetings with Athletic Bilbao (L1), including the last two on the spin by an identical 1-0 scoreline.