Sevilla Have the Title Race in Their Hands

Sevilla - Oleskandr Osipov Shutterstock.com

Current league leaders, Real Madrid, head to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday night, knowing a win will place them in pole position to claim the La Liga title this season.  For both Sevilla and Barcelona, they know anything other than a Real Madrid defeat will leave them hoping for a collapse by the club from the capital, if either of them are to win the league this season.

However, with the way Real Madrid are playing and the confidence running through the team having set a new Spanish record of 40 matches unbeaten, they are going to be extremely difficult to beat.  In terms of La Liga, Zinedine Zidane’s team are unbeaten in their last 28 matches, an incredible run of form.  There have been dropped points on the road this season, most notably last time out at Barcelona but considering the opponent and the way the match developed, it was a point gained as opposed to 2 points dropped.  The only other dropped points came at Las Palmas towards the end of September in a 2-2 draw but in truth, if Real Madrid were to leave Seville with a point, they would probably be happy.

As for Sevilla, they have won five and lost one of their last six La Liga games, including victories in their last three.  They have won seven of their eight home matches this season, with the only defeat coming against Barcelona at the beginning of November.  In their last three home league games, Sevilla have won by a 3-goal margin and although a repeat of those results is unlikely in this game, it will give Jorge Sampaoli’s team plenty of confidence ahead of the match.

Both teams have been involved in high scoring matches recently and there have been over 2.5 goals scored in Sevilla’s last seven La Liga games and over 2.5 goals in eight of Real Madrid’s last nine league games.  Therefore, we should see plenty of goal mouth action.

Indeed, Sevilla have seen over 2.5 goals in their last seven matches against Real Madrid in all competitions and Real Madrid have scored at least 2 goals in their last eight matches against Sevilla in all competitions.  It would come as a huge shock if the match was to end 0-0.  In fact, when you take into consideration Sevilla have scored at least 2 goals in six of their last seven home matches against Real Madrid in all competitions, you get an idea of exactly what to expect from this game and both teams should find the back of the net on Sunday night.

Interestingly, Sevilla have won three of the last four La Liga meetings with Real Madrid at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and with a passionate home crowd, will be hoping to make it four in five.  However, Real Madrid are in such good form, it is hard to imagine them leaving with nothing to show for their efforts and the draw, with both teams to score, sounds about right.  Looking at the correct score market, do not be surprised to see the match finish 2-2, in what could be one of the games of the season in Spain.