VILLARREAL – SEVILLE | Sunday 4:15pm
After the Madrid derby, scheduled a few hours later, this is the match that offers the most interest on this sixth day of La Liga. Unai Emery returns to his old team, Sevilla, but both Villarreal and the Andalusians are the two clubs that – after Real, Atletico and Barcelona – have more European breath than the others in the Spanish top league. It is no coincidence that in the last fifteen years they have also established themselves on the continental stages, writing their name on the Europa League roll of honour.
In the standings the Submarino Amarillo is in a better position at the moment, in sixth place just behind the Champions League zone. In the last round, however, came the first defeat of the season against a direct competitor such as Betis: a match, the one against the green-and-whites, in which Villarreal wasted numerous chances and ended up losing a match (1-0) that was substantially balanced and that would have been more justified to end in a draw. Emery and his team promptly redeemed themselves in the Conference League, a competition in which they are joint favourites for the final victory with West Ham. Despite never keeping their goal unbroken, the yellow team booked first place in their group by beating the Israelis of Hapoel Beer Sheva 2-1, their second success in a row after the pyrotechnic 4-3 victory against the Poles of Lech Poznan on the first day.
On the other hand, Sevilla, protagonist of a nightmarish start, is slowly raising its head. Julen Lopetegui’s men reacted after the two heavy defeats against Barcelona in the league (0-3) and Manchester City in the Champions League (0-4), winning their first three points in the thrilling match against Espanyol, which ended 2-3. During the week, however, Sevilla did not go beyond a 0-0 draw against Copenhagen.
Lopetegui
The Prediction
Despite the absence of striker Gerard Moreno, Villarreal appear slight favourites in this potential direct clash for Europe against Sevilla. The visitors have shown signs of recovery but are still too shaky.
Villarreal-Sevilla likely line-ups
- VILLARREAL (4-3-3): Rulli; Femenia, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Capoue, Parejo, Chukwueze; Lo Celso, Baena, Jackson.
- WEDEN (4-3-3): Bono; Carmona, Gudelj, Nianzou, Acuna; Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan; En-Nesyri, Dolberg, Mir.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-0
