Besiktas vs Athletic Bilbao Preview: Team News & Prediction

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Currently outside the top 24 of the league phase table, this is a must-win game for Besiktas at home to Athletic Bilbao, who sit second-place and level on points with table toppers Lazio. 

Kick-off date/time: Wednesday January 22nd 2025: UK – 3:30pm / US ET – 10:30am / US PT – 7:30am

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports 4 / US – Not televised

How to watch online: UK – discovery+ / US – Paramount+

Besiktas vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction

Besiktas have had a disappointing Europa League campaign thus far, despite winning two games. Because on the flip-side, they’ve lost four matches, including each of their last two league phase fixtures. That leaves them in 28th-place and one point adrift of 24th with two rounds of games left to play and a tough encounter on the horizon here.

For Athletic Bilbao, it’s been fairly plain sailing so far in their quest to make it to the Europa League final on their home ground. Six league phase matches played and 16 points recorded thanks to a draw against Roma, followed by five consecutive wins. The big question though, is whether the visitors potentially rotate their starting line-up with automatic qualification to the round of 16 almost guaranteed.

For the home side, they need three points here and that should be reflected with an attacking playstyle that sees them push bodies forward and take risks, despite the quality of oppositions. This may in turn, lead to chances for Athletic Bilbao on the counter-attack in particular. With that in mind, backing both teams to find the net looks a shrewd move, as does over 2.5 goals being scored.

Besiktas vs Athletic Bilbao Tip: Over 2.5 goals and both teams to score