Sevilla will be looking to further consolidate their spot in the top four when they continue their La Liga campaign away to Celta Vigo on Monday evening.
Julen Lopetegui's side are currently fourth in the table, 12 points ahead of fifth-placed Real Sociedad, while Celta occupy eighth position, nine points behind seventh-placed Villarreal.
Match preview
© Reuters
Celta have finished 17th in each of their last two La Liga campaigns, narrowly avoiding relegation to the Segunda Division on both occasions, while they have not ended a season in the top half of the division since 2015-16.
The Sky Blues struggled for results in the early stages of the campaign but have been impressive since Eduardo Coudet's arrival as head coach, winning nine of their 22 matches in all competitions.
Celta recovered from their defeat to Real Madrid before the international break by recording a 3-1 victory over Alaves last weekend, with Nolito, Iago Aspas and Santi Mina all on the scoresheet.
Coudet's team are currently eighth in the table, one point clear of ninth-placed Granada but nine points behind seventh-placed Villarreal, meaning that eighth is more than likely the highest that they can finish.
Los Celestes recorded a 2-1 victory in the corresponding match between the two teams last season, but Sevilla ran out 4-2 winners at Estadio Ramon back in November.
© Reuters
Sevilla, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of an impressive 1-0 victory over leaders Atletico Madrid last weekend, with Marcos Acuna scoring the only goal of the match in the 70th minute.
Lopetegui's side were knocked out of the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund last month, but they have won three of their last four in the league to consolidate their spot in the top four.
Los Nervionenses are 12 points clear of fifth-placed Real Sociedad, while they are only five points behind third-placed Real Madrid ahead of El Clasico on Saturday afternoon.
Sevilla have the fourth-best away record in the league this season, winning seven, drawing three and losing four of their 14 matches to collect 24 points.
The pressure is largely off Lopetegui's team due to their position in the table, but a defeat for Real Madrid in El Clasico would certainly open up the possibility of finishing third in Spain's top flight.
- L
- D
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Celta will be without the services of Jeison Murillo due to the defender's red card against Alaves last time out, meaning that Jose Fontan could be handed a start in the back four.
Ruben Blanco, Sergio Alvarez and Emre Mor are all still injured, while Augusto Solari and Nestor Araujo are doubts for the clash with the Europa League holders.
There are not expected to be any major surprises in the home side's XI for this match, with Nolito, Brais Mendez, Denis Suarez, Aspas and Mina all set to feature once again.
As for Sevilla, Sergio Escudero is unavailable for selection after testing positive for coronavirus, but the visitors are otherwise in excellent shape heading into the contest.
The bulk of the side that started the win over Atletico should remain in place, with Ivan Rakitic, Fernando and Joan Jordan lining up as the midfield three.
Lucas Ocampos and Suso are also expected to feature in forward positions, but there could be a change at centre-forward, with Youssef En-Nesyri, who has scored 15 La Liga goals this season, potentially coming in for Luuk de Jong.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Mallo, Aidoo, Fontan, Martin; Tapia; Mendez, Suarez, Nolito; Aspas, Mina
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Jordan, Fernando, Rakitic; Suso, En-Nesyri, Ocampos
We say: Celta Vigo 1-1 Sevilla
Sevilla are the favourites to pick up another three points on Monday night, but Celta cannot be discounted due to their quality. The visitors are not under any pressure when it comes to claiming a top-four position, and it would not be a surprise to see a talented Celta team pick up a point on home soil.
Top tip
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 55.07%. A draw had a probability of 24.6% and a win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 20.35%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.7%) and 1-2 (9.54%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.62%), while for a Celta Vigo win it was 1-0 (7.08%). The actual scoreline of 3-4 was predicted with a 0.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sevilla would win this match.
