Sevilla sit a point and a place behind Real Madrid in the La Liga table and the recent history between the two clubs doesn’t read well for the home side.
Sevilla will be aiming to shake off their midweek battering from Chelsea in the Champions League, where they went down 4-0 in their own backyard. Before that defeat, Sevilla had won their last five matches in all competitions, so to lose it the style they did will have disappointed manager Lopetegui.
There have been plenty of goals in Sevilla’s recent outings, with over 2.5 being scored in four of their last six matches in all competitions. Both teams have scored in three of those fixtures, which suggests there might not be a clean sheet in sight come Saturday’s final whistle.
Sevilla have tasted defeat in each of their last three clashes with Real Madrid. Over 2.5 goals have been produced in four of the pair’s last six meetings and both teams scored in their last encounter, a 2-1 win for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid’s form has been up and down so far this season, but they remain in 4th spot in La Liga and remain in the hunt for one of the qualifying spots in their Champions League group.
The visitors have only won two of their last six league and cup games, but where Madrid have gone the goals have followed.
Three of Madrid’s last six fixtures have seen over 2.5 goals scored and four games during that period have ended with both teams getting on the scoreboard. Neither Real nor Sevilla have kept many clean sheets of late and that puts the onus on their being goals in Saturday’s match.
The hosts look set to be without the services of Tomas Vaclik, Sergio Escudero, Marcos Acuna and Suso for a few more weeks, all with muscle strains. Thibaut Courtois returned to action in midweek but international teammate, Hazard remains injured.
Spanish defenders, Ramos and Carvajal also missed the Champions League defeat to Shakhtar and could be out for at least another week through injury.
This game looks sure to have goals in it for both sides and is expected to be very close and competitive. However, history suggests that Real Madrid are best placed to claim all 3pts on Saturday just as they have done the last three times they have come up against Sevilla.