Osasuna vs. Athletic Bilbao – LaLiga, October 24, 2020

Osasuna responded to a pair of defeats to Getafe and Levante and won four points in the last two rounds. They didn’t allow a single goal in those two matches, beating Celta Vigo 2-0 and playing a scoreless stalemate with Eibar on the road. Los Rojillos are in 11th place in the table with seven points from five games.

Bilbao, on the other hand, was in jeopardy of suffering the third loss in a row, but they managed to defeat Levante 2-0 at home thanks to a strong second-half display. Athletic has European football aspirations this season and they must improve in order to fulfill the expectations. This game is a great test for them, so we will see whether they’re up to the task. Bilbao is three places behind Osasuna, with six points from the opening five matches.

Here is my Osasuna vs. Athletic Bilbao betting pick and check out the latest news, stats, and H2H record.

Osasuna matched the seven points collected from their opening five LaLiga games of 2019/20 – their equal-best start to a campaign of the last decade. They’ve also won their only start of the season as a home underdog – a particularly impressive win given their win rate of only 14.29% (W1, D3, L3) under such circumstances in LaLiga last year.

The hosts have opened matches commendably, scoring the first goal of the game on three occasions this LaLiga season – including in both home matches – and as a result have not trailed at the interval (1H: W2, D3). Still, they start this round as one of just two teams (alongside Cadiz) to have lost when scoring the opening goal at home in this LaLiga campaign.

Jagoba Arrasate will be without Darko Brasanac (shoulder), Ante Budimir (illness), Jonathan Calleri (knee), Luis Ezequiel Avila (knee), Brandon Llamas (knee), Jon Moncayola (suspension), and Lucas Torro (muscle).

Looking to avoid consecutive LaLiga losses away from home, Bilbao will be hoping to continue an H2H pattern which has seen the visiting team of the day win or draw the previous five duels between these rivals (W4, D1), with the halftime result being replicated at the final whistle in all five encounters.

Yet to allow a goal before the interval at any venue this season, Athletic enjoyed one halftime lead (going on to win at Eibar) with their other four games providing 0-0 results at the break. Interestingly, four of their five second-half goals allowed have come in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.

Iñaki Williams scored the goal in his previous start, and also opened the scoring in Athletic’s last visit to Osasuna.

Gaizka Garitano cannot count on Yuri Berchiche (illness) and Kenan Kodro (wrist), while Gomez Perez Ibai (arm), Peru Nolaskoain (muscle), and Oscar de Marcos (ankle) are questionable to face Osasuna on Saturday.

Bilbao won seven of the previous ten H2H encounters (D1, L2), but after going seven straight without a defeat, they fell short to Osasuna in the most recent clash back in February, when Los Rojillos secured a 1-0 victory at San Mames. Four of Osasuna’s five games this season produced under 2.5 goals, and I expect to see another low-scoring affair on Saturday. I am leaning toward Bilbao, but I am not going to back them to win. I am using a Bet Builder at bet365 for this one and I am going with a double chance with under 3 goals.