Sevilla will be looking to make a winning start to their 2020-21 La Liga campaign when they travel to newly-promoted Cadiz on Sunday night.
The Europa League winners were in UEFA Super Cup action on Thursday night, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich, while Cadiz have played twice in the league this season, picking up three points.
Match preview
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Cadiz secured a return to La Liga for the current season courtesy of finishing second behind Huesca in the Segunda Division last term.
The Yellow Submarine were actually regulars at this level between 1981 and 1993 but have largely been a second or third-tier side since, only playing one campaign in La Liga since the 1992-93 season.
Cadiz made a disappointing start to life back in the top flight, suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Osasuna on September 12, which made last weekend's clash with Huesca an even bigger affair.
Goals from Alvaro Negredo and Jorge Pombo secured a 2-0 victory for Alvaro Cervera's side, who must now take on a team that are undefeated in their last 15 La Liga matches.
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Sevilla, as mentioned, took on Champions League winners Bayern in the UEFA Super Cup on Thursday night, and the Spanish outfit again gave an excellent account of themselves.
Lucas Ocampos actually sent Julen Lopetegui's side ahead on the night, but Leon Goretzka levelled the scores before Javi Martinez came up with an extra-time winner for the Bundesliga champions.
Sevilla continued their rich history in the Europa League by beating Inter Milan in last season's final, while a strong La Liga campaign saw them finish fourth, which was their highest placing for three years.
Los Nervionenses have not made any particular major signings this summer in terms of transfer fee, but Suso's loan move from AC Milan has been made permanent, while Ivan Rakitic has returned to the club from Barcelona and will be determined to help secure more silverware this season.
Cadiz La Liga form: LW
Sevilla form (all competitions): L
Team News
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Cadiz will again be without the services of Luismi Quezada and Jon Ander through injury, but Juan Cala is fit after an ankle injury and should feature at the heart of the defence.
Negredo will keep his spot at the tip of the attack following his goal against Huesca, while Pombo was also on the scoresheet last weekend and should feature on the left.
As for Sevilla, Sebastien Corchia and Pablo Perez are unavailable for selection, but Lopetegui otherwise has a strong squad to choose from heading into the contest.
Tomas Vaclik will return between the sticks, having been left out of the UEFA Super Cup, while there could be a spot at left-back for summer arrival Marcos Acuna.
There could also be a position in the XI for new signing Oscar Rodriguez, with the 22-year-old potentially joining Ocampos and Luuk de Jong in the final third of the field.
Rakitic, meanwhile, should turn out for Sevilla in La Liga for the first time since 2014, and Jules Kounde will feature in central defence despite being strongly linked with a move to Manchester City.
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Cifuentes; Iza, Mauro, Cala, Espino; Jonsson, Mari; Pombo, Fernandez, Sanchez; Negredo
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Jordan, Fernando, Rakitic; Rodriguez, De Jong, Ocampos
We say: Cadiz 0-2 Sevilla
Cadiz will enter this match off the back of a positive result last weekend, but we are struggling to predict anything other than an away victory here. Sevilla have had less time to recover, but the clash with Bayern could actually help them in terms of this match, and we fancy a routine win for Lopetegui's side.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:data
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sevilla win with a probability of 53.55%. A draw had a probability of 24.7% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 21.72%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.48%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.17%) and 1-2 (9.55%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.73%), while for a Cadiz win it was 1-0 (7.2%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sevilla would win this match.
