Preview: Real Madrid vs. Sevilla - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Madrid will be looking to give their La Liga title hopes a huge boost when they welcome Sevilla to the Spanish capital on Sunday evening for what is a key fixture in Spain's top flight.

Los Blancos are currently second in the table, two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, while Sevilla occupy fourth position, six points off the summit with four games left.

Match preview

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Real Madrid's Champions League journey for the 2020-21 campaign came to an end in the English capital on Wednesday evening as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the second leg of their semi-final, with the result making it 3-1 on aggregate to Thomas Tuchel's side.

Los Blancos were incredibly disappointing at Stamford Bridge but simply cannot afford to dwell on the European loss as they look to finish at the top of the pile in La Liga.

Unbeaten in the league since the end of January, Zinedine Zidane's side recorded a 2-0 victory over Osasuna last weekend to move onto 74 points from 34 matches, which has left them in second spot.

Leaders Atletico face third-placed Barcelona on Saturday afternoon, and a win for the latter would open the door for Real Madrid to move to the summit with a victory over Sevilla.

The title race in Spain's top flight is absolutely fascinating, and Real Madrid will enter Sunday's clash as the favourites, boasting the second-best home record in La Liga this term, while they have won each of their last four La Liga meetings with Sevilla, including a 1-0 success at Estadio Ramon in December.

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Sevilla deserve immense credit for pulling themselves into title contention, with a run of seven wins from eight matches between March 14 and April 25 seeing them close the gap on the top three.

Julen Lopetegui's side suffered a damaging home defeat to Athletic Bilbao last weekend, though, with Inaki Williams scoring in the final exchanges of the contest.

Sevilla are not out of the title argument, sitting just six points off the summit, but they would need to beat Real Madrid and hope that Atletico do not overcome Barcelona to realistically stay in the running.

A record of 22 wins from 34 matches is an indication of just how impressive Los Nervionenses have been this season, but they have a tough end to the campaign, taking on Real Madrid (A), Valencia (H), Villarreal (A) and Alaves (H) in their final four fixtures.

Lopetegui's side, as mentioned, have found it difficult to pick up results against Real Madrid in recent years, and they are without an away victory over Los Blancos in Spain's top flight since December 2008.

Team News

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Madrid will again without the services of Lucas Vazquez, Dani Carvajal and Raphael Varane on Sunday evening, while three more players emerged as doubts on Friday.

Sergio Ramos has now been ruled out of the contest due to a hamstring issue, but Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior have both been named in the squad despite missing Friday's group training session.

Ferland Mendy has not been passed fit, though, meaning that Marcelo is likely to be handed a start.

As a result, there could be a switch to a back four, with Alvaro Odriozola featuring at right-back; Eden Hazard has taken a lot of criticism for his performance against Chelsea and his conduct after the match, but the Belgium international could be handed a start as part of a front three here.

As for Sevilla, Joan Jordan should overcome a toe injury to feature in the middle of the park, while Jules Kounde and Youssef En-Nesyri are expected to shake off minor issues to make the starting XI.

The majority of Lopetegui's side picks itself, with Lucas Ocampos and Suso set to feature in the final third of the field, but Papu Gomez will be in contention to start if Jordan misses out.

Jesus Navas and Marcos Acuna will feature in the full-back positions, meanwhile, with the two teams potentially both lining up in 4-3-3 formations for the key encounter.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Courtois; Odriozola, Militao, Nacho, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Hazard, Benzema, Asensio

Sevilla possible starting lineup:

Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan; Suso, En-Nesyri, Ocampos

We say: Real Madrid 1-1 Sevilla

Real Madrid were so disappointing against Chelsea, but they have been in strong form in La Liga. A win for Zidane's side could take them to the summit depending on what appears between Barcelona and Atletico, but we can see a strong Sevilla team securing a share of the spoils in this match.