Athletic Bilbao vs Manchester United Prediction, Odds and Picks for Tomorrow, 05/01/25

It all comes down to the Europa League for Manchester United in what has been an abject season, but the Red Devils could be put in their place by Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames. Man Utd have not even been able to push for the top half in the Premier League this season, occupying 14th place with 4 matches left to play. It was always going to be a Herculean task for Amorim to turn things around at Old Trafford and he has struggled to improve the Red Devils since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon. But one small glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreadful campaign has been the Europa League, in which United are yet to lose this season. Manchester United finished a respectable 3rd in the League Phase of the Europa League before taking down Real Sociedad and Lyon in their last 2 knockout ties. The quarter-final triumph over Lyon was, however, anything but straightforward as United has to recover from 4-2 down in extra time to win 5-4. It was an exceptionally entertaining contest but it did not exactly cover United in glory given how they relinquished their initial 2-0 advantage in normal time and their poor defending could come back to haunt them in this encounter.

Under veteran boss Ernesto Valverde, Athletic Bilbao are a seriously tough nut to crack and they have won their 6 Europa League home games by an aggregate score of 14-2 this season. Most recently they have taken down both Roma and Rangers at home and they should have no issues beating United on Thursday. The San Mames will of course host the Europa League final this season, giving Athletic extra incentive to progress from this tie. The Basque club are comfortably nestled inside La Liga’s top 5 – which will secure qualification for next season’s Champions League – so they can attack this tie and are a much stronger unit than Manchester United. They have lost just 5 times in La Liga this season, while they can also boast the best defense in the division with just 26 goals conceded. All things considered, they should be a class above the struggling Red Devils in this one.

Athletic Bilbao vs Man Utd prediction: Athletic Bilbao ML (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable to -115.

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