Sevilla vs Villarreal match preview and predictions for Tuesday’s LaLiga match. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as two top four hopefuls clash.
- DATE: Tuesday 29th December 2020
- KICK-OFF: 17:00 (local time)
- VENUE: Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan
- COMPETITION: LaLiga
Sevilla vs Villarreal Preview
Two clubs with top four ambitions this season meet at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan in the first match of this round of fixtures in LaLiga. Along with Real Sociedad, these are the two most likely candidates to be joining the ‘big three’ in the Champions League next season and while Sevilla are the favourites to do just that, they currently trail the Yellow Submarine by 3 points heading into this one.
With 5 wins from their last 7 league games, Sevilla are in good form and they’ve plenty to look forward to looking ahead into 2021. However they are still lacking a touch of creativity this season following the departures of Ever Banega and Sergio Reguilon and a return of just 15 goals from 13 league games is testament to that. However they are a more experienced side now and they continue to grind out results, as they did at Mestalla last time out.
Suso’s late goal sealed a 1-0 win for Sevilla and they perhaps just about merited the win having had the better of the chances in a tight game. Defensively they look very solid with Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde in what is now a very settled back four with Marcos Acuna having made the left-back position his own this term.
This will be a real test for Sevilla against a Villarreal side that has just set a club record (as a top flight club) of 19 games unbeaten in all competitions. Unai Emery has certainly shown why the Villarreal board decided to hire his services and dispense with Javi Calleja, despite the latter doing a good job in 2019/20.
In terms of seriously pushing for a top four finish, Villarreal do have a problem though in that they are drawing too many games. 5 of their last 6 matches in LaLiga have ended up all square including a 1-1 draw at the Ceramica against Athletic Club last time out. 4 of their 7 away league games this season have also finished level and while that’s a slight worry, they’d certainly be content with a point here.
Read all our LaLiga match previews here!
Head to Head
- Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 1 Sevilla Win, 2 Villarreal Wins, 3 Draws.
- Villarreal are unbeaten in 5 games against Sevilla overall.
- They’ve not lost on any of their last 4 trips to the RSP and won 2-1 here last term in LaLiga.
- Sevilla haven’t beaten the Yellow Submarine since a 3-2 win at the Ceramica in November 2017.
Team News
Sergio Escudero and Tomas Vaclik are expected to be the only absentees for Sevilla.
Paco Alcacer is missing again for the visitors who are also weakened in central midfield with both Vicente Iborra and Francis Coquelin unavailable due to injury.
Predicted Sevilla Starting Lineup:
Bono – Acuna, Carlos, Kounde, Navas – Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan – Ocampos, En-Nesyri, Suso (4-3-3)
Predicted Villarreal Starting Lineup:
Asenjo – Estupinan, Torres, Albiol, Pena – Parejo, Foyth, Trigueros – Gomez, Nino, Gerard (4-3-3)
Sevilla vs Villarreal Predictions
Score Prediction: Sevilla 1-1 Villarreal
It’s hard to pick a winner here. Both teams are strong sides but perhaps just lack a few ingredients that would help them kick on and seriously challenge at the very top of this league. Sevilla ought to have the better of the game but with home advantage not counting for much and Villarreal in the habit of drawing football matches, this one could well end up all square.
Sevilla vs Villarreal Betting Tips (18+)
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