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Sevilla logo
La Liga | Gameweek 29
Mar 20, 2022 at 5.30pm UK
Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán
Real Sociedad logo

Sevilla
0 - 0
Real Sociedad

FT

Zaldua (32'), Januzaj (82'), Gorosabel (89')

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

Sports Mole previews Sunday's La Liga clash between Sevilla and Real Sociedad, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Now sitting 10 points off the top of the La Liga table, Sevilla will look to keep their increasingly-slim title hopes just about alive when they host Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Consecutive draws have seen Julen Lopetegui's side fall well behind Real Madrid, while they now come in on the back of a disappointing continental defeat to drop out of the Europa League.


Match preview

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui reacts on March 17, 2022© Reuters

While Sevilla have been particularly impressive to remain in the title race over the course of the La Liga season, they have seen their chances dwindle in recent weeks, despite going on a 14-game league unbeaten run.

With that including seven draws, Lopetegui's men have actually lost ground on leaders Real Madrid rather than gaining it, and the gap has now been stretched to 10 points after disappointing draws with Alaves and Rayo Vallecano in their last two top-flight outings.

They then travelled to London to take on West Ham United in the second leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday, and, despite going in with a 1-0 advantage from their home leg thanks to Munir El Haddadi's goal, they were dumped out after extra time.

Tomas Soucek drew the English side level in the first half, and with no other goals coming in regulation time, the tie went to a period of extra time, in which Andriy Yarmolenko netted the decisive goal to eliminate Los Nervionenses.

Now with their attention fully focused on the league, Lopetegui's side will look to make a return to winning ways to put pressure on Real Madrid and remain clear of third-placed Barcelona, who now sit just five points behind with a game in hand.

Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 5, 2022© Reuters

They welcome a Real Sociedad side also battling at the top end of the table, as they look to push for Champions League qualification while strengthening their place in the top six.

Imanol Alguacil's suffered an exit from the Europa League in the previous stage to their opponents at the hands of RB Leipzig, while losing 4-0 to Athletic Bilbao between the two legs, but they have since bounced back in impressive fashion.

Los Txuri-Urdin have now won three of their last four games in the Spanish top flight, firstly beating Osasuna and Mallorca before they were comfortably toppled by league leaders Real Madrid despite taking the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal.

La Real were able to make an instant return to winning ways last weekend, defeating Alaves 1-0 on home turf thanks to Martin Zubimendi's goal.

With every side in the top seven also winning last time out, other than Sunday's hosts, Real Sociedad have not gained any new ground, but they did keep hold of their position in sixth spot while remaining just four points behind the top four, meaning they still have plenty to play for in the hunt for Champions League football.

Sevilla La Liga form:
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • D

Sevilla form (all competitions):
  • L
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • L

Real Sociedad La Liga form:
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W

Real Sociedad form (all competitions):
  • L
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W



Team News

Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic celebrates scoring their first goal with Marcos Acuna on February 17, 2022© Reuters

Sevilla have a long list of injuries to deal with, as attackers Suso, Papu Gomez and Erik Lamela are set to be ruled out alongside defenders Karim Rekik, Marcos Acuna and Diego Carlos.

Given those absences, Nemanja Gudelj may again have to slot in as a makeshift centre-back alongside Jules Kounde, with Ludwig Augustinsson an adequate backup on the left-hand side of the back four.

Further forward, key striker Youssef En-Nesyri could again be flanked by Jesus Corona and Manchester United loanee Anthony Martial, with Rafa Mir, Lucas Ocampos and Munir El Haddadi also pushing for spots in the front line.

Real Sociedad also have selection concerns to battle through, as young winger Ander Barrenetxea is certainly ruled out alongside Nacho Monreal and Carlos Fernandez, while creative midfielder David Silva missed out last time out.

Winger Mikel Oyarzabal and midfielder Martin Zubimendi are both likely to return to the starting XI after being reduced to substitute appearances against Alaves.

The former leads La Real's scoring charts with nine La Liga goals this term, and he should support Alexander Isak, with Portu and Adnan Januzaj likely batting for the spot on the other flank.

Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bono; Navas, Kounde, Gudelj, Augustinsson; Jordan, Delaney, Rakitic; Ocampos, En-Nesyri, Martial

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Normand, Pacheco, Rico; Merino, Illaramendi, Zubimendi; Portu, Isak, Oyarzabal


SM words green background

We say: Sevilla 1-1 Real Sociedad

Sevilla's struggles for victories recently, combined with a heavily wounded squad, could see them fall short again on Sunday.

La Real will certainly back themselves to leave with a result, and, despite the loss of Silva, they possess the quality to force a share of the spoils away at La Liga's second-placed side.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals 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.Over 1.5:data



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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 57.71%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for Real Sociedad had a probability of 18.94%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.87%) and 2-1 (9.74%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.09%), while for a Real Sociedad win it was 0-1 (6.32%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Sevilla vs Real Sociedad

Sevilla
66.3%
Draw
26.3%
Real Sociedad
7.5%
80
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Anthony Martial poses during his presentation after signing for Sevilla on loan on January 26, 2022
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid29226164204472
2Barcelona29197360342664
3GironaGirona29195559342562
4Athletic Bilbao29168550262456
5Atletico MadridAtletico29174854342055
6Real Sociedad291210742311146
7Real BetisBetis29101273433142
8Valencia28117103232040
9Villarreal29108114751-438
10Getafe2991193742-538
11Las PalmasLas Palmas29107122932-337
12Osasuna29106133343-1036
13AlavesAlaves2988132635-932
14Mallorca29612112535-1030
15Rayo Vallecano29611122538-1329
16Sevilla29610133644-828
17Celta Vigo2969143244-1227
18CadizCadiz29313132040-2022
19Granada2828183058-2814
20Almeria29110182857-2913


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