Match for the 6th round of the La Liga, at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, home of Sevilla.
Match Facts
- Just 4 Villarreal wins in their 24 visits to Sevilla (6 draws and 14 losses).
- All of their last 7 duels saw BTTS.
- Villarreal manager Marcelino worked as Sevilla manager in the 2011-2012 season but was fired after disappointing performances.
Betting Tip: Sevilla - Villarreal
Sevilla have been recovering from their poor start to the season, but it is still remarkable to see how far they’ve fallen, compared to their days of European glory and top-4 La Liga finishes. Two games into this season, Matias Almeyda’s team was instead deemed more likely to be relegated than qualify for the Champions League.
Still, we believe they have the squad talent to challenge opponents that are higher up in the standings. Villarreal are in the top four, but we will back Sevilla to win or draw, offered at 1.65 odds.
- Recommendation: Sevilla to win or draw
- Odds: 1.65 (at the time of writing)
Sevilla
Despite starting off the season with two losses against Athletic Bilbao and Getafe, Sevilla have already flipped the switch and are quickly becoming among the favourites to secure a spot in European football.
They claimed their first win of the season against Girona in the third round (2-0), followed by a draw against Elche, thanks to a last-minute goal by Peque to salvage a point. Their latest result was a valuable 1-2 win over Alaves at Mendizorrotza.
Matias Almeyda’s side stormed off the gates in that game, scoring early with Vargas (10’). Alavas responded with a penalty 7 minutes later, in identical fashion with their third round game against Atletico Madrid, where they equalised an early goal with a penalty 7 minutes later.
That game ended in a 1-1 draw, but Sevilla were a different beast. They relied on 36-year-old Alexis Sanchez, in the twilight of his career, who scored a 67th-minute winner thanks to an assist by Carmona. It was a very valuable win for Sevilla, who are now up to 7 points with a positive goal differential.
Villarreal
Villarreal are one of three teams in the league that have won all three of their home games. They managed to secure their third win of the season in comeback fashion against Osasuna.
Despite the away side going down to ten men in the 40th minute because of Rosier’s red card (second yellow), they went up with Budimir’s penalty in the first half stoppage time. Marcelino’s Villarreal battered Osasuna for the entire second half, ultimately finding an equaliser with Mikautadze in the 69th minute and a winner with Gueye in the 85th minute, bringing Villarreal up to 10 points.
Last week, they suffered a 1-0 away loss to Spurs in their Champions League opener. The game was hardly memorable, as there was just a single attempt on target for both teams in the entirety of the contest (the goal). Sevilla will be a challenging opponent, the first of several in a tough stretch of games for Villarreal.
