Sevilla vs. Leicester City | The Preview

The ruler of The Europa League – Sevilla is trying to make a breakthrough in The Champions League this campaign. The White and Reds finished in second position of their group, leaving Lyon behind them in the standings and deservedly qualified for the Round of 16, where they will play the English champions Leicester City.

The Foxes had no serious competition for the first place in Group G, losing only once in the final match of the group stage, when they had already secured their place in the next stage. However, The Foxes are now on a nightmare run, which can lead them to The Championship unless they do something to improve their performance! The Claudio Ranieri’s players have lost 6 of their last 8 competitive matches, being also knocked out of The FA Cup.

Benoit Tremoulinas and Michael Krohn-Dehli of Sevilla are long-term injured and will miss the game. Nicolas Pareja is close to his return, but he surely won’t take part in the match. To continue with, Stevan Jovetic has been in an outstanding form since he joined Sevilla and is expected to be among the starting XI. Two other Jorge Sampaoli’s players have already played in England – Steven N’Zonzi and Samir Nasri – they will pull the strings in the midfield.

Claudio Ranieri doesn’t have lots of problems with injuries, as only the forwards Slimani and Ulloa are doubtful, but they will probably be selected for the game by the manager. More worrying for The Foxes is the form of the key players – Jamie Vardy, Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs, Drinkwater and Albrighton, who were key for Leicester City’s title, seem to be in a very bad shape.

The Facts:

Sevilla kept a clean sheet in 6 of their last 7 home games in The Champions League. Moreover, the Jorge Sampaoli’s players have won 9 of their 11 home matches in Primera Division, including a 2-1 victory against the leaders Real Madrid!

The Spanish club has only lost 3 home matches this campaign, which losses were against Barcelona (twice) and Juventus! This goes to show how strong Sevilla are when playing at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

On the other hand, Leicester City failed to score in 6 of their last 8 competitive matches. Furthermore, they have only won twice away from home this season – vs. Club Brugge (in the group stage) and vs. Everton (in the FA Cup).

The Foxes have lost 10 of their 13 visits in The Premier League, having only recorded 3 draws away from The King Power Stadium. They have scored 8 and have conceded 27 goals!

To conclude with, The White and Reds have a pretty good record against English teams. Sevilla have recorded victories against Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Tottenham Hotspur. Moreover, they won The Europa League’s final game against Liverpool, turning things around to 3-1! So, my expectations for the game is Sevilla to win by more than 2 goals margin (the average odds of 3.40)!

Possible Starting XIs:

Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Sergio Rico; Mariano, Adil Rami, Sergio Escudero, Gabriel Mercado; Steven N’Zonzi, Vicente Iborra; Samir Nasri, Franco Vazquez, Vitolo; Stevan Jovetic.

Leicester City (4-4-2): Kasper Schmeichel; Danny Simpson, Robert Huth, Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs; Wilfred Ndidi, Danny Drinkwater, Riyad Mahrez, Marc Albrighton; Jamie Vardy, Islam Slimani.