Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid prediction and preview – 30/08/15
La Liga preview – Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid prediction
With the new La Liga season barely a week old it’s hard to see how Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid could be anything short of game of the week. Two teams who last season were only 3rd (Sevilla) and 5th (Atletico) in goals scored behind Barcelona and Real Madrid promises to be a mouth watering encounter.
Sevilla over the summer so far have brought in highly the highly coveted Konoplyanka from Dnipro, Llorente from Juventus and Ciro Immobile on a loan deal from Borussia Dortmund to help stem the loss of Carlos Bacca to AC Milan. Atletico meanwhile have confirmed the permanent transfer of Fernando Torres from AC Milan after last year’s loan deal, Vietto from Villarreal and marquee signing Jackson Martinez from FC Porto, Atletico’s highest profile departure comes in the shape of Arda Turan who left for pastures new at FC Barcelona.
Both teams had a rather unspectacular start last week, Sevilla only managed a 0-0 draw away to Malaga, while Atletico could only manage the 1 early goal provided by Griezmann to settle affairs at home to Las Palmas. I predict this week we will see no such hesitation with the attacking power on show, although Atletico under Simeone are known to be defensively competent.
Sevilla will be without the banned Steven N’Zonzi after being sent off last week. Manager Unai Emery’s only other concern is long term absentee Nicolás Pareja. Sevilla may give a debut to free transfer (La Liga returning) signing Fernando Llorente should he received clearance in time having moved from Juventus in the last few days.
Atletico have no real problems other than Filipe Luis remains doubtful and will face late tests to determine if he will be fit in time.
Interesting facts:
- Sevilla are the oldest Spanish club solely dedicated to football.
- In Diego Someone’s first full season in charge (2013/14) Atletico went on to win the Europa League, European Super Cup and the Copa Del Rey.
Possible Line-ups
Sevilla: Beto, Trémoulinas, Rami, Carriço, Coke, Krychowiak, Iborra, Konoplyanka, Banega, Vitolo, Gameiro. The odds are Sevilla will line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with solid protection for the defenders from Atletico’s pacy attack. Krohn–Delhi may be vying with Vicente Iborra for his first league start since his summer arrival from Celtic Vigo.
Atletico: Oblak, Luis, Godin, Giménez, Juanfran, Koke, Tiago, Gabi, O. Torres, Griezmann, Martinez. Atletico look set to play the standard 4-4-2 formation with the attacking pairing of Antoine Griezmann and Jackson Martinez set to be preferred for the second game running. If Filipe Luis does not recover in time we may see Jesus–Gamez deputise in his absence.
- Sevilla have won 3, drawn 4 and lost 3 of their last 10 matches. One draw was a 4-4 European Super Cup encounter with eventual winners Barcelona triumphing in extra time 5-4.
- Atletico have won 6, drawn 3 and lost 1 of their last 10 matches.
Fixture History and Statistics:
- Sevilla haven’t beaten Atletico once in the last 10 attempts with there being 5 draws and 5 Atletico victories.
- October 2010 was the last time Sevilla triumphed at home in this fixture, almost 5 years ago!
- Both teams have scored in 7 of Sevilla’s last 10 matches compared to only 1 of Atletico’s last 10.
With the game being on home soil and not at Vicente Calderón I can definitely see Sevilla scoring here more than once, at the same time I feel Atletico possess so much firepower going forward that they too are equally capable.
Result Prediction:
Score draw, either 1-1 or 2-2 with a slight chance of an Atletico win.
We say: Over 2.5 goals in the game at 6/5 with Bet365.
What are your predictions?