Football Bet of the Day: Parakeets to ruffle feathers in Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol
Tuesday 18:30 (Live on Sky Sports 3)

A Giuseppe Rossi hat-trick helped Celta Vigo vanquish Las Palmas with something to spare in yesterday's La Liga match. The home side's 3-1 win marks a good start to the week for this column, and we're sticking around the Primera Division for what we hope is a bit more of the old Spanish magic tonight.

One of this evening's three Liga games pitches Athletic Bilbao at home to Espanyol. Across all competitions, six of Espanyol's last seven trips to San Mames have yielded at least three match goals and, despite the pair drawing 0-0 in this season's reverse fixture, we're hopeful of a few more today.

Ernesto Valverde's Athletic have scored at least once in 13/14 home matches since Barcelona beat them 1-0 here in August. At the other end, they've conceded in 11 of those 14 matches.

The Basques should find ways through an Espanyol defence that - home and away - has notched just two clean sheets in 15 Liga appearances since mid-December. The Parakeets have a good scoring record, however. They've hit the back of the net in 10/14 on the road this term and that's enough to tip us towards Both Teams to Score at an odds-against price tonight.

Recommended Bet
Back Both Teams to Score @ 2.166/5 in Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol