Celtic vs Athletic Bilbao

Out-of-sorts Athletic Bilbao take a trip to Celtic Park to take on Celtic in only their second-ever meeting.

Led by new manager Brendan Rodgers, back-to-back Scottish Premiership champions Celtic have blown hot and cold across their five warm-up fixtures this summer (W2, D2, L1). A lack of consistency has seen those five matches fluctuate between different results, suggesting the ‘Hoops’ faithful cannot know which version of their side they’ll watch this week. On a more positive note, except for a goal-glutted 6-4 defeat to reigning J1 League holders Yokohama F. Marinos, the Glasgow-based heavyweights have conceded under 1.5 goals in their four remaining summer friendlies, most recently slumping to a late penalty in a 1-1 draw against perennial Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers. But goals have been at a premium for Celtic, as they’ve netted precisely once in their last two outings.

Another disappointing contest could be on the cards for both sides if a tepid 0-0 draw in their only previous H2H is anything to go by. Like Celtic, visiting Athletic Bilbao have been the epitome of inconsistency in their early pre-season, alternating between three different outcomes (W1, D1, L1) at the start of their preparations. Interestingly, before a scoreless stalemate against second-tier Racing Santander last time out, their opening two summer friendlies had yielded an identical 2-0 scoreline (W1, L1), both of which produced a goal beyond the 70th minute. But head coach Ernesto Valverde is seemingly incapable of addressing his side’s scoring woes, having overseen four scoring blanks in the last six matches, highlighting Bilbao’s uneventful attack as the team’s weakest link.