Athletic Bilbao vs. Villarreal 10/23/21 LaLiga Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Athletic Bilbao is hosting Villarreal at San Mames in round 10 of the Spanish LaLiga. Bilbao has been in solid form lately, and they have improved on both ends. Villarreal has also greatly improved, and they have also won their game in the Champions League earlier this week.

Bilbao isn’t scoring many goals, only 7 in LaLiga so far this season, but their defense has been one of the best with only 4 conceded goals in 8 games. The bad news for Bilbao I suppose is they haven’t played a competitive match in almost 3 weeks, and even though they have had time to rest and heal, this could be a serious problem for them. In their last game in LaLiga against Alaves, Bilbao was solid with 56% of ball possession, 5 shots on goal, 13 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 80% of the correct passes. This was their usual game, but Athletic Bilbao was able to score in the 44^th minute, and they have won this game 1:0. Martinez and Williams are leading goalscorers for Bilbao with 2 goals each, while Muniain added 3 assists. The injury list is still long for Bilbao despite the free time they had, but they have been dealing with this whole season so far. Bilbao is a tough team to crack, especially at home, but I think they will need to start scoring a lot more goals.

Villarreal is in low 12^th place in the LaLiga standings, and their offense is yet to fire up, but their defense was quite good with only 5 conceded goals in 8 games. In the Champions League earlier this week, Villarreal was playing against Young Boys on the road, and they have won that game. Villarreal has had 51% of ball possession, 6 shots on goal, 3 corner kicks, 7 big chances created, and 83% of the correct passes. Villarreal was incredibly effective in this game, and they have won this game 1-4. Villarreal is a great team in my opinion, and I think they are just getting started, but they will need to gain some consistency in the attacking end. In LaLiga, Danjuma is the leading goalscorer for Villarreal with 4 goals, while Trigueros added 2 goals. Pino has added 3 assists. There are no injuries in Villarreal, and this is the perfect time for them to try and keep their streak alive.

Villarreal is still undefeated on the road so far, but they have 4 draws. Both teams are in decent form, and the trends are pretty even in this matchup. I think this will be a fairly open game, ad even though these are some of the best defensive teams in the league, I see goals.