La Liga: Sevilla Seek Big Win Over Champions League Rivals

Sevilla vs Alaves

The race for the fourth and final Champions League spot in La Liga is getting heated. Together with Valencia, Sevilla and Alaves are part of the three-team group hot on the heels of the current fourth-placed side, Getafe.

Sevilla missed a big opportunity to gain ground on fourth after losing to Valencia at home last weekend. And with the games in the season quickly running out, they can’t afford another slip-up, especially against one of their main rivals.

But Valencia do have a tough assignment against Real coming up midweek, which means Sevilla can make a big jump up the table if they beat Alaves and Valencia drop points.

Alaves were recently dealt one of their heaviest defeats of the season with a 4-0 thrashing at home to Atletico Madrid. And with some questionable La Liga 2019 results away from home this season, they will need to put together a much better performance at Sevilla to hold onto their spot on the table.

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Talking Points

Sevilla injury concerns

It seemed as if Sevilla had finally turned the corner after an extremely run of poor form. After losing a hat-trick of games in La Liga, they picked up some much-needed wins over Real Sociedad and Espanyol.

However, they were just edged out by fellow Champions League rivals Valencia over the weekend. That defeat was their seventh in La Liga since the New Year, which has seen them drop down the table.

Sevilla could be without some key players for their match against Alaves. The likes of Pablo Sarabia, Gabriel Mercado, Sergio Escudero, Andre Silva, and Munir El Haddadi are all doubtful, while key midfielder Ever Banega is suspended.

Luckily for Sevilla, though, Wissam Ben Yedder is available and is in banging form at the moment. The French striker has scored 10 goals in his last 11 games in all competitions. That includes five in his last three appearances in La Liga. Ben Yedder got the equalizer for Sevilla in their 1-1 draw with Alaves back in December.

Alaves have proven to be quite a dogged defensive side all season long. But Ben Yedder is capable of providing that added bit of quality that can unlock that Alaves backline.

Sevilla also normally score goals at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Their loss to Valencia — who have the second-stingiest defence in La Liga — was the first time they’d failed to score at home in the league this season since their opening home game against Villarreal.

In their four prior home games, they banged in a total of 14 goals, including five goals apiece in wins over Levante and Real Sociedad.

Fading Alaves resistance?

Alaves have lost just one of their last seven La Liga games — Alaves coach Abelardo Fernandez reacts during a football match

Alaves’ recent unbeaten run came to close in emphatic fashion as they were demolished by Atletico Madrid on their home turf.

Prior to that defeat, Abelardo’s side had won three and drawn three, which includes away wins at Villarreal and at bottom-club Huesca.

Despite getting the results, Alaves’ defence has been showing signs of slippage of late. They’ve failed a clean sheet in four of their last five games.

That’s a somewhat worrying trend for a team that’s scored just 31 goals in 29 games and has a -4 goal differential.

This Alaves side just doesn’t have that many goals in it. Although, it was promising to see top scorer Jonathan Calleri get his first goals since December when he scored twice against Huesca.

Unsurprisingly, Alaves have been markedly worse away from home this season. Seven of their nine league defeats have come outside of the Mendizorrotza Stadium.

With that sort of shaky away form, it’s highly unlikely that there will be many La Liga 2019 predictions that have Alaves to win.

History

Sevilla and Alaves haven’t exactly seen a lot of each other as Alaves have only been back in La Liga for three years after a decade-long absence.

They’ve met five times since Alaves’ return, and the results have been pretty even. Sevilla have won twice — both coming at the Sanchez Pizjuan — with two draws and an Alaves win.

You’d have to go all the way back to the 1954/55 season for Alaves’ last win against Sevilla away from home.

Curiously, there have not been too many goals in these teams’ recent meetings. There have been a total of just six goals in their last four matchups.

Betting Tip

	Sevilla vs Alaves	Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.17
	April 5, 01:30(GMT+8)

Based on their recent history, it’s probably safe to say that the Sevilla-Alaves matchup won’t feature quite as many goals as the wild 4-4 shootout between Barcelona and Villarreal.

While Sevilla can be deadly in front of goal, the loss of Banega, as well as the potential absences of Sarabia and Silva, will have a significant impact on their attack. Meanwhile, Alaves will likely keep it tighter than usual at the back after getting rocked by Atletico.

With all these factors in play, SBOBET tips this match to be a low-scoring affair with a maximum of two goals going in.