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Athletic Bilbao or draw double chance vs Barcelona
Premier Sports 1 & LaLigaTV, 6pm
1pt 5-4 general

Mainz to beat Union Berlin, 2.30pm
1pt 21-20 Betfair

Saturday European football predictions

Hansi Flick's reign as Barcelona manager began with last weekend's 2-1 win at Valencia, but a tougher assignment could await the Catalan giants when they host Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Barca will start the season playing home games at the Olympic Stadium while the renovation of Camp Nou continues, and their first visitors could prove stubborn opponents.

Athletic Bilbao were disappointed to have only drawn their La Liga opener with Getafe as their high-pressing approach under Ernesto Valverde failed to deliver given the squad's lack of fitness.

But they have been handed a boost ahead of their trip to Barcelona with Euro 2024 star Nico Williams, who has pledged his commitment to the club for another season, set to start, while new signing Alvaro Djalo could also feature meaning Los Leones should be sharper than they were against Getafe.

Barca, meanwhile, are unlikely to be at full strength – youngsters Marc Casado and Marc Bernal started in midfield against Valencia – and they had to come from a goal behind to secure their opening round victory.

The two league meetings between these sides last term featured just one goal and with another tight clash possible, Bilbao could be worth backing to at least avoid defeat.

Bundesliga outfit Mainz showed significant improvement following the February arrival of manager Bo Henriksen and they can start the 2024-25 campaign with a win over Union Berlin.

Mainz finished last season unbeaten in nine league fixtures and six of their seven league victories in 2023-24 came at the Mewa Arena.

Union Berlin do not have the added distraction of Champions League football but they nonetheless finished 15th last term, losing more matches (19) than relegated Cologne (17).

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