Athletic Club vs Granada Odds
| Athletic Club Odds | -400 |
| Granada Odds | +1100 |
| Draw | +450 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -150 / +120 |
Match day 32 kicks off on Friday night in Spain with Athletic Club and Granada meeting at the San Mamés.
Bilbao are making a push for Champions League qualification after recently winning the Copa del Rey title.
Meanwhile, the visitors look set for relegation, entering this game in 19th and nine points from safety
I like to back the home teams on Friday nights in La Liga, and I believe there are multiple ways to bet on this matchup in the Spanish top flight.
Read on for my Athletic Club vs Granada prediction.
Athletic Club
Athletic Club were finally able to get over the hump in Spain’s top domestic competition by defeating Mallorca in penalties. It ended a 40-year run of not winning the Copa del Rey.
The victory also stopped a streak of six-straight losses in the final of the cup and booked Bilbao in the Europa League next season.
However, Ernesto Valverde’s side is still in the hunt to qualify for the UCL. With a win here, the club will move to within one point of Atlético Madrid in fourth.
After the wild celebrations throughout the city, Valverde needs to get his team focused for a good ending to what has been a great season.
The best victory parade of all time? Athletic Club players and supporters celebrate the Copa Del Rey win with a flotilla of boats sailing on the river that runs through the town of Bilbao #AthleticClub 🦁 pic.twitter.com/xjm4Q81oJj
— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) April 11, 2024
Granada
After spending 10 of the last 13 seasons in the top division, Granada are headed back down to the Segunda unless a miracle happens.
The club recently brought in José Ramón Sandoval as the manager to lead the great escape. He has a long list of teams he has coached in his career, with this being his second stint with Granada.
He did lead the team to just its third win of the campaign last weekend over 20th-place Deportivo Alavés. Sandoval will hope that this starts some momentum for a great close to the season.
Granada will also need Myrto Uzuni to continue to carry the team offensively. The Albanian striker has racked up 10 league goals to lead the side.
Athletic Club vs Granada
Prediction
As long as the hosts are over their cup celebrations, I can only see a home victory here. It just comes down to the best way to back them.
With that said, my best bet is for Athletic Club to win to nil at -120, which I would play to -130. I also don’t hate Bilbao to be winning at halftime.
Granada have struggled to score and create opportunities on the road. Sandoval’s side ranks towards the bottom of La Liga in expected goals (0.85) and big chances (0.93) per 90 minutes, according to fbref.com.
These struggles have led the club to fail to score in nine-of-15 road trips in the league. Granada have also avoided defeat just twice on the road.
Meanwhile, Athletic have been strong at San Mamés, especially against lesser opposition. This same bet would have cashed on six occasions in seven home games against teams in the bottom 10 of La Liga.
The other trend I return to is backing the home team in Spain on Friday nights. For the season, the home side has won 20-of-32 (63%) Friday league fixtures.
I really like Athletic Club to kick off the weekend with a victory in this one.
