With the 2025/26 season now underway, Europe’s elite competition gets started this midweek and UEFA Champions League football is returning to the Basque city of Bilbao.
After an impressive few years under Ernesto Valverde, Athletic will now hope to take Europe by storm at San Mames. They were beaten by Deportivo Alaves in a Basque derby at the weekend but they will still head into this one with confidence and excitement.
Arsenal spent heavily over the summer to try and compete on all fronts and end their now five-year trophy drought. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have collected nine points from their opening four Premier League games, most recently easing past Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium.
The Sporting News has all the latest odds, tips and predictions for this clash at San Mames in Bilbao in Spain this weekend - a pre-cursor to Arsenal's Premier League match with Man City on Sunday. Arteta has made one change from the win over Forest - Rice returns in place of Martin Odegaard.
Athletic Bilbao vs. Arsenal prediction
Athletic will want to avenge their UEFA Europa League humiliation at the hands of Manchester United in the semi-finals in May, ending hopes of winning European silverware at their home ground.
What that game did show is that, without key men such as Oihan Sancet and Nico Williams, Athletic lack quality in the final third – and the latter is missing this week. They perhaps also got themselves too up for things and it wouldn’t be a shock if that was the case once again, with a maturing Arsenal side more than capable of taking advantage of that.
The Sporting News Score Prediction:
Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal
- Arsenal are among the leading contenders for both the Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League title.
- Athletic will have to be cautious in attack as Nico Williams remains unavailable.
- Arsenal have some injury issues of their own, too, with concerns over captain Martin Odegaard. Could Max Dowman deputise and set a Champions League record?
Athletic Bilbao vs. Arsenal lineups
Here's how we think these two sides this weekend. Mikel Arteta has been granted a deeper squad this season and he may have to use it with captain Odegaard unavailable, whilst Athletic have a decision to make on how much they attack the much-vaunted Arsenal defence without Nico Williams.
Athletic lineup to play Arsenal
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
- Unai Simon (GK) — Andoni Gorosabel, Dani Vivian, Aitor Paredes, Adama — Mikel Jauregizar, Mikel Vesga — Roberto Navarro, Oihan Sancet, Inaki Williams — Alex Berenguer
Injured: Unai Egiluz, Inigo Lekue, Benat Prados, Nico Williams
Suspended: Yeray
Arsenal lineup to play Athletic
(4-3-3, right to left)
- David Raya (GK) — Timber, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly — Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino — Madueke, Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze
Injured: Saliba (doubt), Norgaard (doubt), Odegaard (doubt), Havertz, Saka, Gabriel Jesus
Suspended: None
Athletic Bilbao vs. Arsenal latest odds, correct score betting
Arsenal are the favourites at 92/100 with 10Bet. The draw is out at 13/5 with Athletic underdogs for the game with the bookmaker at 7/2.
Our 0-2 prediction is at good odds with SpreadEx but here's the best available odds for four of the other most likely results.
Result | Odds* | Bet with |
Draw 0-0 | ||
Arsenal 1-0 | 6/1 | |
Arsenal 2-0 | 8/1 | |
Arsenal 2-1 | ||
Draw 0-0 |
*Click odds to bet direct with our selected partners. Odds correct at time of publish.
Athletic Bilbao vs. Arsenal team news
- Aymeric Laporte has not been registered in Athletic’s UEFA Champions League squad after his move from Al Nassr was confirmed way after the deadline due to an issue with the paperwork.
- Nico Williams remained at San Mames over the summer but the Spain international winger sustained an injury whilst with La Roja over the international break.
- Arsenal head into this one with a few major concerns, with both William Saliba and Martin Odegaard seemingly set to be unavailable to start for the visitors.
- As well as those crucial absentees, Arsenal are also still without key man Bukayo Saka, alongside fellow attackers Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
Athletic Bilbao vs. Arsenal Bet Builder tips
Our bet builder for this one includes BTTS – No (17/20), Arsenal to win the first-half (7/5), over 9.5 corners (17/20) and Mikel Jauregizar to receive a card (7/2) which comes to overall odds of 28/1 with 10Bet.
You can check out the latest odds and bet direct with our selected partners using the bet builder tool below.
How to watch Athletic Bilbao vs. Arsenal: Live stream, TV channel
- Date: Tuesday, September 16
- Venue: San Mames, Bilbao, Spain
- Time & TV/Stream: 5:45 p.m. | TNT Sports / discovery+