Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Madrid: Team News, Preview, Live Stream & TV Info

Real Madrid will hope to maintain their slender lead at the top of La Liga by taking all three points when they travel north to face Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Carlo Ancelotti's side saw their advantage over Barcelona reduced to two points following a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal last weekend. They have won eight of their last 10 matches in all competitions but have struggled to match their performance levels from earlier this season since the turn of the year.

Madrid have an excellent recent record against Saturday's opponents. They won 5-0 at the Bernabeu earlier this season—with Cristiano Ronaldo (3) and Karim Benzema (2) getting the goals—and have won nine of the last 10 league meetings between the sides. Athletic's last victory in this fixture came more than five years ago.

But Ancelotti still feels that his side will have to be at their best to secure a positive result this weekend.

"The key factors are intensity and managing to break free from the pressure Athletic exert at home," he explained in his pre-match press conference.

"Winning at San Mames is always difficult, we'll have to give the maximum effort to get the three points."

Athletic did superbly well to finish fourth last season, but they have found the going a lot tougher this time around. They won just one of their first eight league matches of the campaign and then endured another poor run of results through December and January, losing five and drawing two in a seven-match winless streak.

They are currently 10th in the table and need to put together a very strong run of form if they are to have any chance of qualifying for Europe through the league.

They do, though, come into Saturday's fixture in high spirits, having progressed to the final of the Copa del Rey with a 2-0 victory away to Espanyol on Wednesday.

Date: Saturday, March 7

Time: 5 p.m. GMT/noon ET

Venue: San Mames, Bilbao

TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK only)/beIN Sports (U.S. only)

Live Stream: Sky Go (U.K. only)/beIN Sports Connect (U.S. only)

Form

Athletic Bilbao	Real Madrid
Espanyol (A): Won 2-0	Villarreal (H): Drew 1-1
Eibar (A): Won 1-0	Elche (A): Won 2-0
Torino (H): Lost 3-2	Schalke 04 (A): Won 2-0
Rayo Vallecano (H): Won 1-0	Deportivo La Coruna (H): Won 2-0
Torino (A): Drew 2-2	Atletico Madrid (A): Lost 4-0
Granada (A): Drew 0-0	Sevilla (H): Won 2-1

Predicted Formations

BR

Madrid will definitely be without the injured James Rodriguez and Sergio Ramos for Saturday's match, while Ancelotti confirmed during his pre-match press conference that Luka Modric will also not be involved. The Croatian is expected to return against Schalke on Tuesday.

The primary doubt is over who will partner Isco and Toni Kroos in the midfield three. Asier Illarramendi, Lucas Silva and Sami Khedira are the contenders. Silva has started each of Madrid's last three matches in all competitions and should be considered favourite to do so again on Saturday.

Athletic will definitely be without the injured Ander Iturraspe and Unai Bustinaza and the suspended Mikel San Jose for the visit of the league leaders.

Predicted Athletic XI (4-2-3-1): Iraizoz, De Marcos, Etxeita, Laporte, Balenziaga; Gurpegi, Rico; Susaeta, Benat, Muniain; Aduriz.

Players to Watch

Real Madrid: Gareth Bale

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Per Whoscored.com, Gareth Bale has failed to provide a goal or an assist in any of his previous six appearances. He was particularly wasteful in the draw with Villarreal last weekend, completing just one of his 11 crosses and getting neither of his two shots on target.

He will therefore be keen to put in a strong performance on Saturday against a side against whom he provided two assists in the 5-0 victory at the Bernabeu earlier this season.

With Modric nearing a return from injury, Rodriguez not too far from his own comeback and Isco in sparkling form, Bale's place in the side could start to come under threat if he is unable to provide a more consistent end product.

Athletic Bilbao: Markel Susaeta

Per WhoScored, Markel Susaeta has been Athletic Bilbao's primary assist giver so far this season. And the right winger is again likely to provide one of their biggest attacking threats on Saturday.

Madrid have displayed a vulnerability against teams who move forward quickly down the flanks—particularly down the left-hand side of their defence—during the current campaign and the likely Athletic right side of Susaeta and Oscar De Marcos will hope to exploit that weakness on Saturday.

Key Battle: Aritz Aduriz vs. Pepe and Raphael Varane

Per Deia (in Spanish), Ernesto Valverde admitted in his pre-match press conference that it would be foolish for his side to attempt to take on Madrid toe-to-toe on Saturday. With a slightly more cautious approach, it is therefore essential that Aritz Aduriz provides a reliable focal point up front to relieve pressure on the defence.

Per Soccerway, the veteran striker has scored a respectable nine goals in 21 league appearances so far this season. His overall contribution to the team is, however, much greater than just goals, and he played a key role in the win over Espanyol in midweek.

Pepe and Raphael Varane are both relatively proactive in their defending, They will both have to be strong and alert to prevent Aduriz from supplying the out ball that Athletic are likely to rely on.

Alex Caparros/Getty Images

Odds

Athletic Bilbao: 6/1

Real Madrid: 100/227

Draw: 15/4

*All odds via Oddschecker