LaLiga – Rayo Vallecano face Seville

LaLiga action on Sunday as Rayo and Seville meet at Estadio de Vallecas – 2:00pm GMT.

With Champion’s League positions always a key motivation, second placed Seville remain in contention as they travel to thirteenth placed Rayo.

This season’s LaLiga campaign, has so far seen Rayo Vallecano achieve 31 points

Is this to be the game where Rayo to put a halt to their recent record of poor results? They go into this fixture on the back of two recent defeats to Cádiz and R Madrid.

Also, some statistics are more relevant than others they say, and six losses for Rayo seems very relevant. With a thirteenth position in the league and 9 wins, 13 losses and 4 draws, they currently have 31 points in the League having won nine meetings, drawn four matches, and lost 13 matches.

Rayo have won eight games, drawn two meetings, and lost three matches of their 13 League matches at home this season.

Winning this fixture will see Rayo Vallecano on 34 points.

Andoni Iraola could be missing up to four of their players through injury or illness for the game on Sunday.

Seville’s campaign so far has seen them accrue 55 points this season

Whilst a disappointing 0-0 draw against Alaves in their last game, is not the worst result they could have experienced, Seville will be keen to improve the result in this fixture.

Also, slow and steady wins the race, Seville are showing that they know by avoiding defeat in 19 of their last 20 matches, a form has placed them in clear contention for Champion’s League qualification. Now they have 15 matches won, 2 games lost and 10 duels drawn; that’s why they currently sit in second place, with a total of 55 points having won 15 fixtures, drawn 10 meetings, and lost two games.

Seville’s away record is remarkable and poses a significant threat to Rayo. In the 14 games they’ve played on the road this season, they have so far won five fixtures, drawn seven matches, and lost two games.

Victory for Seville would take their points tally to 58 so far this season.

A solid defensive team

It’s an easy statement to make, but to win you simply have to score more goals than your opponent. Seville have been consistently applying this principle, whilst remaining defensively solid as a unit this season, with 18 goals in their previous matches. The number of goals that a team scores can sometimes give a misleading impression of performance. Seville have found the net 39 times (38 from open play and one penalty), but their performance at times this season has been average. This is largely down to the efforts of their stand-out attackers – Rafa Mir (2), Papu Gomez (2), and Ivan Rakitic (1).

Seville are missing five players through injury or illness. This will affect Julen Lopetegui’s selection choices significantly.

Rayo Vallecano v Seville – Head-to-Heads.

Regarding their historical duels when these two sides meet, a draw is never usually the expected outcome. In the past 31 matches, Seville have won 20 wins and Rayo six victories. In their most recent meeting of this fixture was August 2021, when Seville walked away as 3-0 winners.

Other players of note for Rayo are Francisco Garcia and Luca Zidane with one goals each and for Seville are Rafa Mir and Papu Gomez with two goals both.