On Saturday, 2 February as part of the 27th round of the Spanish Primera, Sevilla will host Real Sociedad. Last week, the visitors lost to Mallorca in the semi-finals of the country's Cup, and Kike Flores' charges lost 1:0 to Real Madrid last weekend.
Sevilla: Nyland; Navas, Bade, Ramos, Salas, Sanchez; Torres, Soumare, Suso; Romero, En-Nesyri.
Real Sociedad: Remiro; Traore, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Tierney; B Mendez, Zubimendi, Merino; Kubo, Becker, Oyarzabal.
The match will take place in Seville at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
This season Sevilla is fighting for survival, despite winning the Europa League less than a year ago. Occupying 15th place in the league table at the start of the 27th round, the Andalusians have pulled six points clear of Cadiz in the relegation zone, despite a minimal defeat last weekend to Real Madrid (1:0) – all decided by Luka Modric's 81st minute strike. This setback ended a four-match unbeaten run for the "pizjuanians", which included victories over Rayo Vallecano (1:2), Atletico Madrid (1:0) and a draw with Valencia (0:0).
Last season, "Los Nervionenses" finished 12th in La Liga, their worst final result since relegation in 2000. However, the calendar favours the hosts: in the next two rounds, they will take on the sinking Almería and crisis-ridden Celta. Sevilla has been performing poorly at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in the current campaign: the stripes have only collected 14 points at home, scoring 17 goals and conceding 19.
The second half of the season is turning into a nightmare for Real Sociedad. The San Sebastian side, faced with a high number of absent players due to injury, are rapidly losing the positions acquired in the autumn championship. Having lost at home to Osasuna (0:1), Imanol Alguacil's charges clinched a victory over Mallorca (1:2), and last weekend lost at home to Villarreal (1:3). This fiasco dropped the team to 7th place in the league table, two points behind the top-six.
Worse still, the Basques were knocked out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals by Mallorca after a penalty shootout last week. Just days ahead of their return clash with PSG in the Champions League, the visitors have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions. Meanwhile, Sociedad ranks fourth in the league in terms of away performances: scoring 20 points in 13 meetings, with 16 goals and only 11 conceded.
The current holders of the Europa League have lost all three of their last matches against Real Sociedad, the last time Sevilla overcame the Basques by a 2:1 score line was in April 2021.
Sevilla is having a poor season and is in bad form – however, the same may be said for the Basque team, which seems to be falling apart week by week. Both urgently need points and in such a scenario, a draw seems more than a likely outcome. In the last five head-to-head meetings, these teams have drawn twice – and it seems this would be the same this time around.
Sevilla scored zero goals in two previous rounds, while the Basques scored twice in their last two encounters in all competitions. I do not expect an open game here and I will place a bet on the overall total under 2.5.
Sevilla has a number of tall players and averages over five corners per match. I confidently place a bet on the host's individual total over 4.5 in corners.
Neither team is overly rough – in their three recent meetings, they did not collect more than 4 yellow cards. My prediction is the total number of warnings under 4.5.
I will place a bet on the precise score line of 0:0.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Barcelona | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 25:9 | 21 | |
2 | Real Madrid | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 19:6 | 21 | |
3 | Villarreal | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 17:17 | 17 | |
4 | Atl. Madrid | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 12:4 | 16 | |
5 | Osasuna | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 13:14 | 15 | |
6 | Ath Bilbao | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12:8 | 14 | |
7 | Mallorca | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9:8 | 14 | |
8 | Rayo Vallecano | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11:9 | 13 | |
9 | Celta Vigo | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 16:15 | 13 | |
10 | Betis | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8:7 | 12 | |
11 | Alaves | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 11:12 | 10 | |
12 | Espanyol | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 9:13 | 10 | |
13 | Girona | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -2 | 9:11 | 9 | |
14 | Sevilla | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -2 | 8:10 | 9 | |
15 | Real Sociedad | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 6:7 | 8 | |
16 | Getafe | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | -1 | 6:7 | 8 | |
17 | Leganes | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | -4 | 5:9 | 8 | |
18 | Valencia | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -8 | 5:13 | 6 | |
19 | Valladolid | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -14 | 5:19 | 5 | |
20 | Las Palmas | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | -8 | 9:17 | 3 | |
1 | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:3 | 15 | |
2 | Osasuna | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11:6 | 13 | |
3 | Celta Vigo | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9:5 | 10 | |
4 | Betis | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7:4 | 10 | |
5 | Barcelona | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10:1 | 9 | |
6 | Espanyol | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8:7 | 9 | |
7 | Atl. Madrid | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7:1 | 8 | |
8 | Ath Bilbao | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6:4 | 8 | |
9 | Villarreal | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10:11 | 7 | |
10 | Alaves | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 7 | |
11 | Getafe | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4:2 | 7 | |
12 | Sevilla | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4:5 | 6 | |
13 | Mallorca | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 5 | |
14 | Rayo Vallecano | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6:5 | 5 | |
15 | Valencia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4:3 | 5 | |
16 | Valladolid | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3:4 | 5 | |
17 | Girona | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5:4 | 4 | |
18 | Leganes | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2:4 | 4 | |
19 | Real Sociedad | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5:6 | 3 | |
20 | Las Palmas | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6:8 | 3 | |
1 | Barcelona | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15:8 | 12 | |
2 | Villarreal | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7:6 | 10 | |
3 | Mallorca | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6:5 | 9 | |
4 | Atl. Madrid | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 8 | |
5 | Rayo Vallecano | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5:4 | 8 | |
6 | Real Madrid | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 6 | |
7 | Ath Bilbao | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6:4 | 6 | |
8 | Girona | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4:7 | 5 | |
9 | Real Sociedad | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 5 | |
10 | Leganes | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3:5 | 4 | |
11 | Celta Vigo | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7:10 | 3 | |
12 | Alaves | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7:11 | 3 | |
13 | Sevilla | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4:5 | 3 | |
14 | Osasuna | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2:8 | 2 | |
15 | Betis | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 2 | |
16 | Espanyol | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1:6 | 1 | |
17 | Getafe | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2:5 | 1 | |
18 | Valencia | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1:10 | 1 | |
19 | Valladolid | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2:15 | 0 | |
20 | Las Palmas | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3:9 | 0 |
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