Barcelona VS Sevilla Match Prediction
2018-10-20
18:45:00
Barcelona
VS
Sevilla
Our Prediction Tip
Barcelona will win this match.
2018-10-2018:45:00 Barcelona will win this match.
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last ten matches against Sevilla, and have lost just one of the last 23. That lone Sevilla win came in October 2015, in Seville, since when Barcelona have won nine and drawn one of the ten subsequent fixtures. Among those victories are Barcelona’s 2-1 win in the Super Cup earlier this season, when Pablo Sarabia gave Sevilla the lead but Gerard Pique and Ousmane Dembele turned the game around. Their last meeting before that was in the Copa del Rey final, when Luis Suarez scored twice and Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Philippe Coutinho once each in a 5-0 Barcelona win. Here are the results of their last five matches:
Aug 12, 2018: Sevilla 1-2 Barcelona
Apr 21, 2018: Sevilla 0-5 Barcelona
Mar 31, 2018: Sevilla 2-2 Barcelona
Nov 04, 2017: Barcelona 2-1 Sevilla
Apr 05, 2017: Barcelona 3-0 Sevilla
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Barcelona have slipped up in recent weeks, dropping to second behind resurgent Sevilla after four La Liga games without a win.
Sevilla, on the other hand, have won their last four – including a 3-0 defeat of Real Madrid – and are clearly one of the form teams in the league.
Nevertheless, the international break will have given Barcelona a chance to take stock and their record against Sevilla speaks for itself. Nine wins and a draw in the last ten matches between the two show Barcelona’s quality.
Speaking of that quality, if Luis Suarez is back to full fitness after treatment on his knee injury, that is a big boost, though they are short at the back – Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen both sitting out injured.
Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet will start – hardly a disaster – but options beyond those two are limited now.
Sevilla, on the other hand, have their strikers – Wissam Ben Yedder and Andre Silva – in top form, and Pablo Sarabia providing goals and assists from just behind them.
Their wing-backs system has produced some good results of late, and Real Madrid were among the teams stunned by Sevilla’s pace and counter-attacks.
Barcelona are vulnerable to pace and counter-attacks, but they have scored plenty themselves this year too – continuing where they left off at the end of last season, which included that 5-0 Copa del Rey final win against Sevilla.
Sevilla are in superb form and, despite their record in this fixture, are the team to beat in La Liga at the moment. But Barcelona, particularly with home advantage, have the tools to beat them.
Bouncing back with a win here, and returning to the top of the table, would be the perfect way to put their recent sticky patch in the league behind them.
Sevilla’s form has not been enough to stop the bookmakers labelling Barcelona as big odds-on favourites. Betway’s 4/11 on a Barcelona win is among the best prices you will find.
Given Sevilla’s attacking form, however – and Barcelona’s vulnerability to the counter-attack – both teams to score has been set at 1/2 with Bet365 and 10Bet.
A Barcelona win and BTTS is 6/5 with Bet365, Ladbrokes, Betway and 888sport. But, if you fancy plenty of goals, over 2.5 goals will return just 2/7 with Bet365 and Ladbrokes.
Even over 3.5 goals is odds-on, at 8/11 with Bet365 and 888sport, but Barca to win and over 3.5 goals returns 6/5 with Betfair.
Lionel Messi, once again, has been in superb goalscoring form and you can get 12/25 from 888sport on him to score at any time.
Barcelona are favourites to beat Sevilla despite being without a win in four games. They have nine wins in their last ten meetings with Sevilla and this is their chance to make it ten from 11 to return to the top of the league table.
Luis Suarez will hope to be fit to face Sevilla after missing Uruguay’s international friendlies against South Korea and Japan to work on correcting his minor knee injury. Ernesto Valverde is short at the back, however, having seen Thomas Vermaelen pick up a knee injury on international duty to join fellow centre-back Samuel Umtiti on the sidelines. Clement Lenglet will therefore start at centre-back alongside Gerard Pique.
Lionel Messi – Back to his brilliant best after a difficult World Cup, the Argentine maestro has scored 11 goals and set up a further five in his 11 appearances this season.
Ousmane Dembele – The French winger has scored five times in ten appearances so far this season and sits second-top in Barcelona’s goalscoring charts.
Luis Suarez – Three goals and four assists so far this season, and Barcelona will hope the Uruguayan benefits from skipping the international break for treatment on his knee.
After a blistering start to the season, Barcelona have hit a sticky patch of late. They are without a win in their last four La Liga games (drawn three, lost one) and their only win in their last five matches was at Wembley in the Champions League against Tottenham Hotspur. Lionel Messi scored twice after Philippe Countinho and Ivan Rakitic gave Barcelona the lead in a 4-2 win on that occasion. Either side of that, the La Liga champions drew 1-1, however – first at home to Athletic Club Bilbao courtesy of a late Munir equaliser and, most recently, away to Valencia thanks to Messi’s 11th of the season.
Gabriel Mercado, Sergio Escudero and Ibrahim Amadou are all out with arm injuries, but Sevilla have welcomed Maxime Gonalons back to training this week – though he will not be fit to face Barcelona. Aleix Vidal returned to the bench last time out, and is in contention to face his former team, but Jesus Navas is likely to continue at right wing-back.
Andre Silva – His seven goals so far this season include two in the win against Real Madrid, while he also scored for Portugal last week.
Pablo Sarabia – Nine goals and six assists in 15 appearances so far this season make him the clear stand-out star of the season so far.
Wissam Ben Yedder – The striker also has nine goals to his name so far this season, while he has assisted a further three.
Sevilla have won four of their last five games, with all four wins coming in La Liga and their solitary defeat being a 2-1 reverse in Krasnodar in the Europa League. They returned to winning ways with a 6-2 win against Levante and have not looked back since. Wissam Ben Yedder scored a hat-trick that day, and he added another after Andre Silva’s double in the 3-0 win at home to Real Madrid. Silva and two Ever Banega’s goals secured a 3-1 win away to Eibar next up and, after the Europa League loss, they got back on track with a 2-1 home win against ten-man Celta Vigo last time out – Pablo Sarabia and Ben Yedder scoring the goals.
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