Barcelona vs Athletic Club LIVE Football Score 23 Oct 2022

 

Event details:
NAME: Barcelona – Athletic Club
DATE: 23 Oct 2022
TIME: 19:00 UTC
VENUE: Spotify Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona boss Xavi has a number of big decisions to make when it comes to his team selection for Sunday’s La Liga clash with Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou.

Hector Bellerin was back in the squad against Villarreal on Thursday after recovering from injury, with the Spaniard playing the final 20 minutes of his side’s 3-0 win.

Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo will again be unavailable for selection against Athletic, while Memphis Depay remains on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Frenkie de Jong started in central midfield alongside Gavi and Pedri on Thursday, with Sergio Busquets on the bench, and the Dutchman could retain his spot in the XI for this match.

There is likely to be a change at the back for this game, though, with Eric Garcia potentially coming into the side, which would potentially see Marcos Alonso switch across to left-back.

Robert Lewandowski scored a brace against the Yellow Submarine and is again a certain starter in attack.

However, Xavi has a number of options in the wide areas, with Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha both pushing to return to the front three on Sunday night.

Ansu Fati’s performance against Villarreal could see him keep his spot, but Dembele is likely to take Ferran Torres’s starting role for this weekend’s contest.

Barcelona possible starting lineup: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, E Garcia, Alonso; Gavi, De Jong, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati

Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao Preview

Athletic Bilbao are currently in sixth place in the La Liga standings and have exceeded expectations this season. The Basque outfit played out a 2-2 draw against Getafe this week and will need to take it up a notch in this fixture.

Barcelona, on the other hand, are in second place in the league table at the moment and have managed to bounce back after a difficult week. The Catalan giants thrashed Villarreal by a 3-0 scoreline in their previous game and will need to achieve a similar result this weekend.

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Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Barcelona have a good record against Athletic Bilbao and have won 40 out of the last 63 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Athletic Bilbao’s 10 victories.
• Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 20 home games against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga – their best run against the Basque side in the competition.
• Athletic Bilbao have failed to secure an away victory against Barcelona since 2001 – their second-worst such run in La Liga.
• Athletic Bilbao have collected points in only one of their last 18 matches at the Camp Nou – in 2018 with Ernesto Valverde as the Catalans’ manager.
• Barcelona have not conceded in their last five La Liga home games – their best such run in the competition since 2011.
• Athletic Bilbao are winless in their last three matches in La Liga – their worst such run in the competition since December 2021.