Seville Derby Preview
On Sunday evening, the Seville derby will be contested at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, home of Sevilla, in what will be the 100th topflight Sevillian derby.
The game will see fourth placed Sevilla, play sixth placed Real Betis, with just six points separating the sides, though Sevilla have played one game fewer.
Sevilla’s Form and Season
Sevilla will go into the game in disappointing form, having lost their last two La Liga games, losing to Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey semi-final, and losing to Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Up until the first leg against Dortmund, Sevilla had not lost in nine competitive games and that included a 2-0 win in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey semi-final against Barcelona.
The first leg defeat to Dortmund and the loss to Barcelona in the cup, which saw them lose 2-0 in normal time before Martin Braithwaite won the tie in extra time affected their league form, so the derby offers the chance for Sevilla to regain confidence and win bragging rights over their city neighbours in their goal to hold onto fourth position in the league.
The league season has mainly been successful for Sevilla, with them finding themselves in fourth position, which means they are in the final Champions League qualification spot. Only Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona have won more league games than Sevilla.
Their defence has been impressive, as they have only conceded 20 league goals this season, with only Atletico Madrid conceding fewer, which has resulted in Sevilla keeping 11 clean sheets in their 25 league games.
Real Betis‘ Form and Season
Manuel Pellegrini’s side are in impressive form, in the last ten league games, only Barcelona have picked up more points.
Real Betis have won seven of their last ten games, and have only lost once in that time, and that was a 3-2 defeat to Barcelona. They are also on a four-game winning run, and they find themselves in sixth position chasing a Europa League place and potentially a Champions League place if they can beat Sevilla.
Betis have scored one more goal than Sevilla, but their defence may be an issue as they have conceded 40 goals in the league this season.
The lack of draws seems to be the secret behind their success, because 13 wins from their 26 league games has seen them move into the European places.
Key Players
Sevilla
Sevilla will be hoping Yousef En-Nesyri can find form once again as their top scorer has not scored in the last four league games. He has scored 13 league goals this season, which means he has scored 37% of Sevilla’s goals in La Liga.
Another player to key an eye on is Joan Jordán, who has Sevilla’s most assists in the league, with only three players having more assists than him. Jordán has six assists to his name this season.
Real Betis
For Real Betis, they will be looking to Sergio Canales for creativity and goals as he is Betis’ leading scorer in the league with seven goals and six assists to his name.
Defensively, Emerson will be important with the Real Betis’ right back having the second most tackles per game in the league. He averages 2.9 tackles and 2 interceptions per game.
How will the game pan out?
The game should feature plenty of shots with only Barcelona and Real Madrid averaging more shots per game than Real Betis and Sevilla.
Both sides like to control possession, but with an average of 59.1% possession this season, it could be expected that Sevilla will control most of the ball. This could leave Sevilla open to the counterattack because Real Betis are impressive at intercepting the ball with 12.2 interceptions per game. Further to this, Real Betis are confident of carrying the ball, so if they can win the ball back high up the pitch and turnover possession, they will run at the opposition as only Barcelona and Real Madrid dribble the ball more per game.
Regarding shooting, Real Betis are happy to strike from distance as they average 5.3 shots per game from outside the box compared to 4 shots per game for Sevilla.
Sevilla like to take their shots from inside the box, as they average 7.1 shots a game in the penalty area, compared to the 6.3 shots that Real Betis average from inside the penalty area.
Team News
The only person out for Sevilla is Aleix Vidal, who is out with a hamstring injury.
Real Betis are without Marc Bartra, Dani Martin, and Victor Camarasa.
Head-to-Head Record
The last game ended in a 1-1 draw. Before that Sevilla won the previous three games, and Real Betis last won the derby in September 2018.
Final Thoughts
Sevilla will want to get their season back on track and beating their neighbours will do just that, while Real Betis will be looking for a win to get them in contention for a Champions League place.
