Football Bet of the Day: Athletic to slip in Greece

Panathinaikos v Athletic Club
Thursday August 17, 19:30

They made us wait for the coup de grace, but eventually Napoli did us proud last night. Their 2-0 home win over Nice in the Champions League covered the Asian Handicap, and the French side did their best to help as they had two men sent off. Merci beaucoup.

I studied Classics at school, so I'm delighted to be switching from the country that birthed the Roman empire, and landing in the country that gave the Romans most of their best ideas. Athens-based Panathinaikos are up against Athletic Club in the Europa League.

Seeing as I'm showing off in this column, I'll tell you I was in Bilbao a couple of weeks ago, perusing the art in the Guggenheim Museum. If they'd had a painting depicting Athletic's away form in the Europa League, there would have been lots of pained faces and red slashes. The Basque side have only won once on the road in the competition since February 2016 (even then, they lost on penalties to Sevilla), and they have lost four of their last seven UEL away games.

Athletic comfortably came through their previous tie against Dinamo Bucharest, but they were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Romania. Tonight's opponents Panathinaikos won home and away against Azerbaijani side Qabala, and they have looked sharp in pre-season. They have won 11 of their last 12 competitive home games.

Given those stats, Athletic Club look way too short for the win at 2.20, so let's back the other two eventualities by using the Double Chance market.

Recommended Bet
Back Home or Draw in the Double Chance market at 1.80