Sports Mole previews Saturday’s La Liga clash between Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Arguably the game of the weekend in LaLiga takes place at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday evening, as a steadily-improving Sevilla take on Diego Simeone‘s unpredictable Atletico Madrid.
After four defeats in five to start the season, Sevilla’s last result, a 1-1 draw away to Villarreal, felt like decent point for the hosts, while the visitors will have to pick themselves up from a painful derby defeat just before the international break.
Match preview
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Things were looking bleak for Julen Lopetegui this time last month, as a 2-1 defeat to newly-promoted Almeria prompted fan protest after the game, with director of football Monchi coming out onto the pitch to plead with the travelling supporters to keep faith in the side.
Successive 3-0 and 4-0 home defeats to Barcelona and Manchester City did little to lift the mood, but a first win of the season away at Espanyol, including a brace for young full-back Jose Angel Carmona on his first LaLiga start, has bought the Basque manager a bit more time.
In truth, things started to turn slightly sour towards the end of last season for the former Spain head coach, but uncharacteristically poor squad planning certainly did not help Lopetegui’s cause, as the loss of Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos left Los Nervionenses with a slightly thrown-together back line to start the campaign.
While 20-year-old centre-back Tanguy Nianzou certainly looks to have potential, he had only played 13 full games of top division football before being thrown in at the deep end, while other new signing Marcao is yet to play due to injury, leaving midfielder Nemanja Gudelj to deputise.
With a steadier performance last time out against Villarreal, as academy graduate Kike Salas stepped into the defence, the Andalusians will have to be at the top of their game once again if they are to keep out a talent-stacked Atletico Madrid attack.
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Fortunately for Sevilla, that attack has not always been as potent as it looks on paper this season.
While Joao Felix is without a goal involvement since his hat-trick of assists on the opening day of the season, Alvaro Morata has taken one shot, which was off target, in his last four Atletico Madrid appearances, despite scoring for Spain on Tuesday.
Antoine Griezmann has looked the most dangerous of Simeone’s attacking superstars, but is limited to 30-minute cameos due to an expensive clause in his contract, whereas Angel Correa and Matheus Cunha do not seem to be receiving the same opportunities to play as they did last season.
When they do click, however, Atletico Madrid have looked irresistible going forward, and could cause a potentially inexperienced Sevilla back four problems as the game wears on.
The defeat to Real Madrid two weeks ago was a painful one, but a win here would be a nice way to get back on track, and to put some pressure on Osasuna in fifth, ahead of their game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend.
Sevilla La Liga form:
Sevilla form (all competitions):
Atletico Madrid La Liga form:
Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):
Team News
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The hosts look set to continue without the aforementioned Marcao in defence, still yet to play for his new club after his summer move from Galatasaray. Midfielder Nemanja Gudelj might have to fill in once again, alongside Nianzou.
Jesus Corona is also out with ligament damage until the new year, while Erik Lamela should return to the squad after missing that Villarreal draw.
With a goal for Denmark against France during the international break, new striker Kasper Dolberg could be in line for his first Sevilla start, replacing out-of-form Youssef En-Nesyri, while Adnan Januzaj will also be pushing for his inclusion.
The visitors have had to deal with their fair share of injuries this season, but seem to be having a few familiar faces nearing fitness once again.
Stefan Savic returned to training with the squad last week, so could be in contention for a start, while Jose Maria Gimenez has been working individually to try and be ready for this Sevilla game.
Thomas Lemar is also hoping to be available, while the clash will come too early for Sergio Reguilon after surgery.
Mario Hermoso will also be unavailable, after being sent off in the final moments of that Madrid derby.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Acuna, Nianzou, Gudelj, Montiel; Fernando, Jordan; Torres, Isco, Gomez; Dolberg
Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:
Oblak; Reinildo, Gimenez, Savic; Carrasco, Koke, Kondogbia, De Paul, Llorente; Felix, Morata
We say: Sevilla 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Two sides with plenty to prove, and with defensive deficiencies to boot, we can see an exciting game here, with plenty of opportunities at both sides.
We fancy Atletico Madrid to get the job done, however, with their superior attacking talent.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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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