LA Liga don Callum Read (@callumread) takes a look at the Monday night La Liga game for us.
Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo | Monday 19:45 | Sky Sports 2
The final La Liga game of 2016 pits two of the most exciting teams in Spain together at one of the league’s most passionate stadiums – the San Mames.
Athletic Bilbao boast an excellent home record and have won eight and drawn one of their last nine home games in all competitions, the only team to come away from Bilbao with a win this season was Barcelona.
Celta meanwhile, come into this fixture in mixed form with their last eight games consisting of three wins, three defeats and two draws. The visitors haven’t kept a clean sheet in La Liga since September but do provide entertainment going forwards with the likes of Iago Aspas, Bongonda, Daniel Wass and Pablo Hernandez putting on some eye catching performances this season.
Poor travellers
The worrying news for Celta fans though, is their side don’t travel well winning just once on the road this season, conceding 14 goals from their seven games.
It’s encouraging for those who are looking for goals tonight though, both teams have scored in 71% of Athletic’s home La Liga games this season, while Celta have kept clean sheets in just 13% of their league games.
It certainly feels like a high scoring game, Ernesto Valverde’s side have seen an average of 2.53 goals per game this season, while Eduardo Berizzo’s side has averaged 3.53 goals in their games.
Goals
Although Celta go into any game with the chance of winning, I feel the Sam Mames faithful will once again guide the Basque side to another home win and have eyed up a number of attractive bets.
Firstly, Athletic Bilbao to win and Both Teams to score can be backed at 14/5 with William Hill. They are also 19/20 for Over 2.5 Goals with Ladbrokes. We’ve seen the Over 2.5 Goals come in eight of Celta Vigo’s last nine games and both sides not having a totally settled back line and even better attacking units this is a very attractive price.
Lastly, I love the look of Iago Aspas anytime at 14/5 with 32Red. The Spanish striker is currently his counrties top scorer in La Liga with nine goals making him the fourth overall behind Ronaldo, Suarez and Messi. He’s averaging a healthy 2.3 shots per game and is currently the away sides main source of goals.
Best Bets
Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo – Athletic Bilbao to win and Both Teams To Score (14/5 William Hill)
Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo – Over 2.5 Goals (19/20 Ladbrokes)
Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo – Iago Aspas to score anytime (14/5 32Red)
