This Sunday also marks the finale of the Spanish top flight season and features this upcoming La Liga clash between 4th placed hosts, Sevilla, and their 8th placed visitors, Athletic Bilbao, when the two teams meet at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
Sevilla know they just need to at least avoid defeat this Sunday in this final home game of the season in order to secure their place in next season’s Champions League, and having suffered just two defeats out of their last 23 matches overall in the domestic top flight, Sevilla will be confident about their chances for this upcoming encounter.
First training session ahead of #SevillaFCAthletic 💪 pic.twitter.com/GRmGMpwNvo— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) May 18, 2022
First training session ahead of #SevillaFCAthletic 💪 pic.twitter.com/GRmGMpwNvo
The two losses were rather predictably against Barcelona and Real Madrid but aside from those slips, Sevilla have produced a lengthy sequence of consistent results which has helped the hosts into their current 4th place in the La Liga standings.
With nine wins and no fewer than 12 draws, the stalemate has dominated the hosts’ results since early December, while at home, Sevilla have lost just once in their previous 20 home games.
Midfielders, Suso and Fernando are expected to miss out again through injury while there are doubts over forward, Martial.
Athletic Bilbao registered a solid 2-0 home win against 9th placed Osasuna and this victory has helped lift the visitors up into 8th place and serious contention for a possible top seven finish in La Liga.
Athletic Bilbao are now within just one point of 7th placed Villarreal prior to this final weekend in the Spanish top flight.
But they need Villarreal to lose away from home at Barcelona on Sunday and in turn, Bilbao need to take all three points away at Sevilla as well.
Although results have been fairly steady, losing just twice in their last nine games overall which includes picking up four wins in the process.
It should be noted that three of these four wins were actually captured on home soil at their San Mamés Barria.
Meanwhile, on the road, Athletic Bilbao have hardly been convincing in recent weeks as the visitors have collected just one win out of their last six outings on their travels.
And they’ve also suffered four defeats into the bargain as well, while 14 of Bilbao’s 18 away games to date have been under 2.5 goals.
Midfielder, Sancet, is expected to be absent through injury.
This could be a low-scoring encounter to finish the season off.