Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla Tips & Preview - Hosts to kick things off with a victory

By Tolu Shotade

1 minute ago

Tolu Shotade 1 minute ago

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Athletic Bilbao looking for a strong start at home against Sevilla.
Bilbao retained key player Nico Williams.
Sevilla facing a challenging season with another managerial change.

Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla

Athletic Bilbao will be targeting a strong start when they host Sevilla in their opening fixture of the new Spanish La Liga season.

Both teams had their problems this summer and are coming off unconvincing preseason campaigns. However, San Mames is usually a fortress for the hosts, who are expected to do enough to claim the win.

Athletic Bilbao News

Athletic Bilbao will consider last season a success as they finished in the UEFA Champions League places. They ended things with three wins in their final four La Liga home matches and have only lost three times at San Mames since the start of the 2023/24 season.

Things were rough for Athletic Bilbao in preseason, losing their last six matches, including a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in their final warm-up game. However, they achieved their main objective for the summer, holding on to star forward Nico Williams, who signed a 10-year contract.

Athletic Bilbao have a knack for striking first and have scored the opening goal in two of their last three La Liga home matches. They also tend to leave things late and have won the second half in their last three league matches at San Mames.

Sevilla News

Another season, another manager for Sevilla, who announced Matias Almeyda as the new man at the helm this summer. His arrival means the club have now made eight managerial changes in just three years.

This turbulent managerial situation is reflecting on the pitch as Sevilla has finished in the bottom half of the table in the last three years. They were 17th last season, just one point above the relegation zone after losing eight of their final 11 La Liga matches.

Sevilla are synonymous with European achievement, and the task for Almeyda will be to restore the club to its former glory. However, the quiet transfer activity suggests a difficult campaign ahead, as they failed to win five of their last six preseason matches, playing out a 1-1 draw with Toulouse in their previous fixture.

Head to Head

Athletic Bilbao often come out on top in this fixture and are unbeaten in seven of the last 10 matches against Sevilla. The hosts were held to a 1-1 home draw in the first meeting last season before earning a 1.0 away win in the reverse fixture.

Verdict

Athletic Bilbao v Sevilla

Sevilla look to be coming into another difficult campaign, and Sunday’s opener is likely to set the tone for that. Bilbao often do their best work at San Mames and should claim the upper hand here while also maintaining their record of scoring first.

Having won the second half in their last three home matches, Athletic Bilbao could be set for a similar pattern here.

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