Real Madrid vs Atheltic Bilbao 23/12/19

23 December 2019

Real Madrid will entertain Athletic Bilbao at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu this weekend, looking to extend their unbeaten run in La Liga (LL) H2Hs to nine games (W5, D3).

After putting together four straight LL wins, the hosts have played out two consecutive league draws, including a goalless away stalemate with Barcelona last time out. Real’s upturn in results following an unconvincing start to the season has seen Los Blancos rack up a 12-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (W8, D4), keeping a clean sheet in seven matches during that run. Also, Zinedine Zidane’s men have picked up six triumphs in their last seven LL home outings (W6, D1), beating their rivals by a margin of multiple goals on five of those occasions. Another landslide victory is on the cards here, as the Madrid giants outplayed Athletic in 12 of their last 13 top-flight H2Hs held here (W12, D1), with nine of those wins coming via a multiple-goal margin. Moreover, free-scoring Real have netted 2+ match goals in nine of their previous ten competitive home games, finding the opener seven times in the process.

As for the visitors, they have gone from three consecutive LL triumphs to back-to-back league games without a win (D1, L1), but they still sit just three points adrift of fourth-placed Getafe. Far more comfortable at home, the Basque giants have secured only one of their total seven LL victories on the road (14%), with 25% of their total league points coming away from home. Athletic’s struggling on the road is a consequence of their inability to score goals. Los Leones have drawn a blank in four of eight LL road trips this season, scoring an average of 0.75 goals per LL away fixture. Also, Gaizka Garitano’s men have failed to keep a blank sheet in three of their last four LL games away from San Mames, conceding over 1.5 match goals twice in that sequence.