The 29th round of La Liga action brings us the second Basque derby of the season as Real Sociedad travel to San Mames to keep their Champions League push going against Athletic Bilbao.
Bookmaker 10bet has the odds at 2.25 for Sociedad to win either half on Saturday and at 1.66 for Athletic to win at least one half in the contest.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 14th, 2:30 P.M. (EST)
Sociedad will want revenge for a 4-0 defeat suffered against Athletic at San Mames last season, but the fixture has been very kind for the team through the years. Since Imanol Alguacil took charge as manager in 2018, La Real have won six of 10 derbies, losing only twice.
Alguacil has turned the team into a very tight defensive unit and he’s on the brink of leading Sociedad back into the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14. The Txuriurdin can even dream of a top-three finish, with Atletico Madrid holding only a two-point advantage over Sociedad.
Meanwhile, Athletic is battling for a top-six finish. Real Betis have five more points, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men have massively struggled lately, opening the door for Athletic to record their best league finish since 2015-16. The Lions have enjoyed a good campaign despite their star man Iker Munian struggling for form.
The Athletic captain was voted into the La Liga Team of the Season a year ago, but he’s been very quiet in 2022-23 and hasn’t even scored a single goal in 24 league outings. A big derby performance would certainly make up for his previous shortcomings.
Munian has scored a career-best six goals in previous meetings against Sociedad, and as a player who has come through the Athletic youth system, he knows all about how important wins over La Real are. The 30-year-old should be ready to inspire his team to victory on Saturday.
If Athletic indeed manages to win, they would register a rare league victory in the match-up. Dating back to the 2012-13 season, Sociedad has dropped just four league derbies, winning 10 out of 21 clashes. However, the overall record still remains in Athletic’s favor. The two have had 188 previous clashes and Athletic boasts 77 wins to Sociedad’s 61. In 151 league meetings, Athletic has recorded 60 wins to Sociedad’s 52.
