Barca Face Another Tough Test In Their Home Opener Looking For A Second Straight Win

Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao La Liga Team News Match Preview

Barça face another tough test in their home opener looking for a second straight win

Barcelona host Athletic Club in La Liga on Saturday night

Barcelona will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins at the start of the new La Liga campaign when they welcome Athletic Bilbao to Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday night.

Xavi's side opened their 2023-24 account with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Real Sociedad last weekend, with Robert Lewandowski and Ansu Fati on target.

Barcelona will now be looking to maintain their winning start against an Athletic Bilbao side who have also enjoyed a positive start to the new season.

Ernesto Valverde's men recorded a 1-0 victory over Real Betis in their opening game, with Nico Williams scoring the only goal of the match.

The two sides have a good record against each other in recent years, with Barcelona winning four of their last five meetings. However, Athletic Bilbao did win the most recent encounter between the two sides, triumphing 1-0 in the Copa del Rey in January.

Team News

Barcelona will be without the suspended Jules Kounde for the match against Athletic Bilbao.

Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, and Franck Kessie are all doubts for the game, while Memphis Depay and Hector Bellerin are out.

Athletic Bilbao will be without the injured Ander Herrera and Mikel Vesga for the match.

• Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Garcia, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Gavi; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
• Athletic Bilbao: Unai Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Yeray, Yuri; Berenguer, D Garcia, Muniain; N Williams, I Williams, Sancet

Match Preview

Barcelona will be looking to continue their good start to the season against Athletic Bilbao.

Xavi's side have a strong record against the Basque club, and they will be confident of victory at home.

However, Athletic Bilbao are a dangerous side, and they will be looking to cause an upset.

Nico Williams is a key player for the visitors, and he will be looking to add to his tally of goals against Barcelona.

The match is likely to be a close encounter, and it could go either way.

Prediction

Barcelona 2-1 Athletic Bilbao