Sevilla vs Villarreal

Sevilla and Villarreal will square off at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in an intriguing La Liga match-up.

Sevilla turned a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 defeat away at Real Madrid last time out, as their six-game unbeaten La Liga run came to a halt (W4, D2). But returning to Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, where they are yet to lose a league fixture this season (W5, D1), will come in handy. Taking the 2020/21 season into account, the Andalusian heavyweights are now unbeaten in their previous eight La Liga home matches (W7, D1), netting 2+ goals in each of the last six in a row. If they add another two here, it will be the first time since 1962 that ‘Los Nervionenses’ have scored over 1.5 goals in seven top-flight home games on the trot. But after bagging one goal or less in three of their last five La Liga home H2Hs (W1, D3, L1), that could be easier said than done.

On the other hand, Villarreal bounced back from a heartbreaking 2-1 home defeat to Barcelona last time out with a crushing 8-0 triumph over lower-league side Victoria in midweek Copa del Rey action. Back to La Liga, where they have yet to taste victory away from home this season (D5, L2), ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ will be gunning for their first road clean sheet after three failed attempts. However, since beating Getafe in July 2020, Villarreal have gone winless in their last 11 La Liga away matches when starting as betting outsiders (D6, L5). On a positive note, though, Unai Emery’s men have only lost one of their previous seven away La Liga visits to Andalusian sides (W4, D20, though that solitary defeat came at the hands of Sevilla of all teams.