Ath Bilbao – Almeria Predictions, Odds and Betting Tips – 30.09.2022

⚽ Ath Bilbao – Almeria Predictions

Ath Bilbao – Almeria Predictions and Tips and Odds for September 30, 20:00 LALIGA.

Ath Bilbao – Almeria Preview

An eye-catching 3-2 defeat of Rayo Vallecano sent Athletic Bilbao into the September break with their best six-game points haul (W4, D1, L1) to open a new La Liga (LL) campaign of any season in the 21st century, courtesy of Iñaki and Nico Williams becoming the first pair of brothers since Espanyol’s Diego and Gabriel Milito in 2005 to score in the same LL match.
Eleven goals amassed across their last three victories – eight of which were racked up prior to the half-time break to establish unassailable leads – illustrates that Athletic’s 1-0 home loss to Espanyol was most likely an anomaly. Manager Ernesto Valverde, a two-time LL winner with Barcelona, is embodying his own philosophy that “there will always be one chance and then one more” by enjoying the most successful start of his three tenures at Athletic.
Fears that Umar Sadiq’s departure from Almería earlier in the season would decimate their goal scoring ability have sadly been realised courtesy of three consecutive failures to score. Whilst the close nature of those 1-0 losses suggests the newly promoted club are not too far off the pace, losing to three clubs who have all spent time in Spain’s second-tier Segunda División over the last five years suggests Almería are out of their depths.
Perhaps that should come as no surprise when their seven busiest players of this LL season (by minutes played) were all part of their Segunda División-winning side, whilst their four most expensive inbound transfers are yet to turn 21. That, as well as four players returning from national duty, presents a significant challenge for manager Rubi who conceded “there is a long way to go” despite some “significant growth” throughout the first six games.
Players to watch: After an error that led to Athletic conceding to Vallecano within five minutes, the potentially Barcelona-bound Iñigo Martínez has now enjoyed just one clean sheet from his last five LL starts (W3, L2). Perhaps this is the day for Almeria’s El Bilal Touré to kickstart his LL season after opening the scoring within ten minutes in Mali’s 1-0 win against Zambia.
Hot stat: Almería’s games produced fewer average total goals (1.83) than those involving any other single club in the first six rounds.