Athletic Club vs Barcelona: TV, stream & preview

After their draw in El Clasico, Barca can go eight points clear in the Primera Division standings with a win on Sunday

After a midweek Clasico, Barcelona are back in Primera Division action on Sunday when they travel to face Athletic Club.

A 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final leaves them in which a chance of progress to the final, while in La Liga they can go eight points clear if they win at San Mames after Real Madrid beat Atletico 3-1 on Saturday.

Athletic rarely make life early life easy for their guests at home, having beaten Real Betis and Sevilla in league action in recent weeks.

TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch

In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be streamed via Eleven Sports 1.

Squads & Team News

Athletic Club are bereft of Aritz Aduriz and Lekue because of injuries. Meanwhile, Ander Capa has a one-game ban to serve.

January signing Kenan Kodro is in line to debut.

Possible Athletic starting XI: Herrerin; De Marcos, Yeray, Martinez, Yuri; Benat, San Jose; Williams, Muniain, Cordoba; Kodro

Barcelona are still without long-term concerns Samuel Umtiti and Rafinha, who were recently joined on the sidelines by Jasper Cillessen.

Arthur will miss out after picking up a problem in midweek, while the left-back area is bereft of the suspended Jordi Alba.

Lionel Messi may not play a full role after being only a substitute against Real Madrid in midweek, while Ousmane Dembele is still building up his fitness.

Possible Barcelona starting XI: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Vermaelen, Semedo; Vidal, Busquets, Alena; Dembele, Suarez, Coutinho.

Betting & Match Odds

Barcelona are strong favourites to win, with odds of 4/6 at bet365. A draw is 3/1, while the price on a home win is 4/1.

Click here to see more offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.

Match Preview

In a strange way, Barcelona will have been pleased to see Real Madrid overcome Atletico Madrid on Saturday. While the 3-1 win was testimony of the increasing strength of Los Blancos, it has also served to strength Barca’s grasp on first place, dealing an immense blow to Atleti’s title hopes in the meantime.

Ernesto Valverde’s side will now seek to take advantage on Sunday but were made aware of the pitfalls of tackling Athletic earlier in the season, when they were held to a 1-1 draw against the Basque outfit at Camp Nou, the now departed Munir El Haddadi forced to grab a late equaliser to salvage the point.

“Every game at San Mames is complicated and tomorrow's will be especially difficult,” said the former Athletic coach, who has one win and four losses in the league at the home of a team he led for six seasons.

“It's always tough when Barca play in Bilbao. There is great pressure from the stands. Athletic try to push you back into your half and keep you there and that will make it difficult for us to play our game. It's going to be an attractive game to watch as it always is - it's one of the toughest games we have left in the calendar.”

Inaki Williams is certainly confident that the home side have the capacity to trouble the league leaders.

“Barca are a very complicated opponent, very difficult. We are aware that they have the best player in the world and other very good ones, but we have more than enough weapons and we have always put them in trouble,” January’s La Liga Player of the Month told Mundo Deportivo.

“We have to be very close to them based on the fact that it will be very difficult to steal the ball from them. We must take advantage of our chances and have confidence.”