The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium will play host for a crucial La Liga game on Saturday, as both familiar sides will meet again. Only two points seperate them on the table, as the Catalans will seek revenge for the Coppa matchup. Who will come on top? This is Sevilla Vs Barcelona – Third Place Battle.
Match Preview
Sevilla are on a great run of form lately, despite dropping their Champions League game against Dortmund at home. On the other hand, Barca cannot afford any more slipups, especially after losing the first leg in the Copa semi final 2-0 to non other than the team they will meet tomorrow. A battle for pride for the Catalans Vs a battle for existence for the Andalusian. Who will prevail? Let’s take a closer look in our analysis.
Sevilla FC
Los Rojiblancos are just two points away from 3rd place Barca and 4 points away from 2nd place Real, with a game in hand on both of them. The title race is still open for the Andalusian, with a win tomorrow will get them back to the mix. They are not stranger on beating Barca, after the defeated them in the Copa Del Rey first round 2-0. Lopetegui will look to approach the game in the same manner to secure the precious three points. Sevilla enter this game having won against Ossasuna, to secure their 6th win in a row. In addition, they secured their 11th clean sheet in La Liga, putting them level with Real and Atlético Madrid for the best defense. In the last ten games, the team have eight clean sheets and only one defeat, which was against Dortmund in the CL. Furthermore, With the latest run, Sevilla have set a clean sheet record in La Liga without conceding – 529 minutes so far.
Domestically, Sevilla looks to be dominating as of late. However, they still have work to do in europe if they want to advance. Their home game loss against Dortmund means they will now have to win the 2nd leg to progress. Despite their clean sheet record in the league, Los Nervionenses were not able to stop the Germans from hitting the back of the net, as Dortmund scored 3 important away goals. The focus now will shift back to Spain, as the team will face Barca back to back, when they meet again for the Copa 2nd leg next week.
FC Barcelona
Meanwhile, Barca are struggling with inconsistency one again this season. With no room for additional mistakes, the Catalan will enter this game in a must win mode. After the failures in the Copa and Champions League, Koeman will have to restore some pride back in the team. Barca head into this game hacing secured a vital win against Elche on Wednesday. Lionel Messi’s second-half double and another from Jordi Alba were enough to secure the 3 points. With his goal, Alba became the top scoring defender and provider of assists in the league, having scored four goals and delivered eight assists so far.
The Catalan giant have a mountain to climb both in the Copa and Champions League. They lost the first leg against Sevilla 2-0, while they were handed a tough defeat at home against PSG 4-1. It’s safe to say that they are facing elimination in both competitions, unless something drastic happened. Therefore, Barca will shift the focus back to the league, with the leaders Atletico seems to be struggling lately and look to take advantage of that. Can they secure any silverware this season?
Team News
Sevilla will once again be without Marcos Acuna and Lucas Ocampos, as they are currently injured and have been ruled out of this fixture. Ocampos has been a key player for them this season, however they still have enough talent to walk through Barca’s defense.
As for Barcelona, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutinho remain unavailable. Ronald Araujo, who has been Barca’s best defender this season, returned to training but is likely not fit enough to feature. Koeman was able to rotate his side on Wednesday night, as he looks to gather his best available players for this clash. However, Pjanic will be out as well.
Match Prediction
Sevilla Vs Barcelona – Third Place Battle. Bottome line is, we believe that Sevilla will prove to be too strong for Barca once again. The Andalusians are on a 6 games winning streak, while only conceding one goal. Barca failed to breach their defense in the Copa game and they have to be on their best to do so tomorrow. With that being said, Sevilla should at least secure a draw at home. However, the question remains whether they can keep a clean sheet or not. Considering the importance of this game, Barca should at least get a goal if they want to win. Therefore, betting on over 2.5 goals with both teams to score seems the most logical bet.
Current Odds
- Sevilla Win/Draw: 1.61
- Over 2.5 goals: 1.66
- Both Team To Score: 1.53
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