Football Results

This La Liga match puts together two teams who mentioned together suggest that this is a derby of the round, however, we can say that both team underperformed this season. Sevilla has 10 points more and is much better positioned than Athletic, however, its team could do much more than the 5th place that currently occupies after winning Malaga away in previous round. Athletic too won Malaga two rounds ago but at home, where it drew in previous round. Athletic won Sevilla in their first match this season by 1-0.

FC Sevilla

Sevilla continues with variable performances and its results follow the pattern. Out of three previous duels Sevilla drew, lost and won by one match, while it played two times at home when it failed to win. It firstly played a goalless drew with Manchester United in the Champions League and can console themselves with fact that they dominated the match, however, they made no advantage and ahead of them is a difficult job at the Old Trafford.

It seems the match exhausted them both physically and mentally as they suffered a true debacle four days later when they faced Atletico Madrid. It was not recorded that Sevilla was trailing behind 5-0 at home and that is exactly what had happened but later on they alleviated the defeat by two goals. Manager Montella had totally unexpected sent the same team on the pitch although it was logical to refresh the team, which is why he made number of changes in the team that faced Malaga, and that is what we expect to do now.

Probable lineups FC Sevilla: S. Rico – J. Navas, Kjaer, Lenglet, Escudero – N'Zonzi, Pizarro – Vazquez, Correa, Nolito – Muriel

Athletico Bilbao

Athletic has more and more problems and it is very probably that we will not see the team in European competitions next season. They can console themselves with fact they still competing in the Europa League, in which they struggled to eliminate Spartak Moscow in the round of 32. Playing at home is no more an advantage for Athletic, although it finally won at its San Mames stadium in the league two rounds ago but the opponent was last placed Malaga. In fact, Athletic was trailing behind in the match and its goalkeeper Arrizabalaga had defended a penalty.

In previous round Athletic faced stronger Valnecia and it had to accept draw, although this time Aduriz was a tragic hero as he missed a penalty. On top of all those problems Blenziaga and M. Rico are injured, while Muniain has been absent for a very long time now. Some other players like Williams are out of shape. Against Valencia manager Ziganda had refreshed the defence with Nunez and Saborito, while the rest of the team remained the same. Now, Iturraspe and Williams might join the starting line-up.

Vjerovatni početni sastav Athletic Bilbao: Arrizabalaga – de Marcos, Nunez, I. Martinez, Saborit – Iturraspe, Benat – Williams, Raul Garcia, Cordoba – Aduriz

Verdict:

Both teams are having difficulties and we give advantage to team with fewer problems, which is Sevilla. It has wider roster than Athletico and will enjoy the home field advantage, which is an important factor in duels between the two teams.

Pick:  Sevilla wins 1.75 - 75/100 @1XBet