Seville To Battle Athletic Bilbao in Return Fixture

Photo Credit: AP

Battle resumes for these two sides, as they meet at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in their second meeting of the Season.

Athletic Bilbao are hopeful of taking point sand moving up the table when they visit Seville, as eighth place takes on fourth in the League.

Seville arrive at this game, having secured 67 points so far this season

Seville will no doubt see this game as an opportunity to bring some consistency of form into their season, following a draw away to Atletico Madrid, as well at Mallorca.

Also, with 11 draws in 17 fixtures, Seville need to develop a strategy for getting over the line in games. With a fourth position in the league and 17 wins, 4 losses and 16 draws, they currently have 67 points in the League having won 17 meetings, drawn 16 games, and lost four games.

Playing at home, Seville have won 11 fixtures, drawn six matches, and lost one game.

Winning this fixture will see Seville on 70 points.

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 30 goals in their previous games. Seville have scored an impressive 52 goals so far this season (51 from open play and one penalty), however their performances have at times been average. This has been largely down to the key attacking players: Rafa Mir (3), Papu Gomez (3), and Jesus Corona (2).

Seville’s squad has depth, but even so, Julen Lopetegui is likely to be missing four of they key players when they start Sunday’s game.

It’s 55 points so far for Athletic Bilbao this season, going into this meeting

Marcelino will hope that success brings further success, as his side look for another win in a row. Their last two outings resulted in victories against Osasuna and Granada.

Also, Athletic Bilbao keep finding ways to win, having secured 10 victories in their last 20 meetings is astonishing this season. Now they have 14 matches won, 10 games lost and 13 duels drawn; that’s why they currently sit in eighth place, with a total of 55 points having won 14 meetings, drawn 13 games, and lost 10 fixtures.

Athletic Bilbao’s away record is remarkable and poses a significant threat to Seville. In the 18 games they’ve played on the road this season, they have so far won four matches, drawn nine fixtures, and lost five meetings.

A win in this fixture would take Athletic Bilbao’s points to 58 in the League.

A solid defensive team

Athletic Bilbao have a solid defence, having so far only conceded 35 goals in their previous games. The number of goals that a team scores can sometimes give a misleading impression of performance. Athletic Bilbao have found the net 43 times (41 from open play and two penalties), but their performance at times this season has been average. This season, their stand-out attacking players have been Alex Berenguer (3), Inaki Williams (3), and Raul Garcia (3).

Athletic Bilbao may have to resort to second choice players, given the number of first choice players that are now unavailable through injury, illness or suspension.

Seville v Athletic Bilbao – Head-to-Heads.

Regarding their historical duels both clubs have already met each other 58 times with the record being 27 wins and 12 draws for Seville. Also, the two sides have played out draws in nine of their last 13 meetings encounters. The last time both teams met in this competition The Lions delivered a 0-1 away win.

Other players of note for Seville are Rafa Mir and Papu Gomez with three goals each and for Athletic Bilbao are Inaki Williams and Raul Garcia with three goals and three goals respectively.

YOU MAY LIKE
TRENDING