Sevilla will be looking to make it six La Liga victories in a row when they continue their 2020-21 campaign at home to Athletic Bilbao on Monday night.
Julen Lopetegui's side are currently fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid on the same number of matches (33), while Athletic occupy ninth spot in Spain's top flight.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sevilla are still the outsiders in the title race, but there is no question that Lopetegui's side are in the hunt approaching the final straight, currently sitting just three points off the summit.
Atletico and second-placed Real Madrid are both in action on Saturday, while third-placed Barcelona feature on Sunday, meaning that the picture is likely to have changed by the time that this game kicks off.
Sevilla just have to keep winning and see where that takes them, and it would be an incredible story if they managed to lift their first La Liga title since 1956-57.
Los Nervionenses have won seven of their last eight in the league and each of their last five, including a 2-1 victory over Granada last time out, with Ivan Rakitic and Lucas Ocampos on the scoresheet.
Lopetegui's team have been impressive at home this term, meanwhile, collecting 37 points from their 16 league games at Estadio Ramon, and they will be facing an Athletic side that struggle on their travels.
© Reuters
Athletic, meanwhile, will enter Monday's contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with struggling Real Valladolid on Wednesday evening; the Basque club led until the 85th minute of the contest, when Shon Weissman found the back of the net to ensure that the points would be shared.
Marcelino's side also beat Atletico 2-1 last weekend, and a record of 10 wins, 12 draws and 11 defeats from 33 matches this season has seen them collect 42 points, leaving them in ninth spot in the table.
Athletic are only three points behind eighth-placed Granada, and they will be desperate to finish the season strongly, having lost two Copa del Rey finals last month to Real Sociedad and Barcelona respectively.
The Lions, who finished 11th in La Liga last term, have only recorded two away victories in Spain's top flight this term, suffering seven defeats in the process, but they have only lost one of their last three league games with Sevilla and recorded a 2-1 victory in the reverse match earlier this season.
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- L
- D
- D
- L
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Sevilla could again be without the services of reserve goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik through injury, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape heading into the contest.
Lopetegui could make just the one change to the team that started against Granada last time out, with Youssef En-Nesyri, who is the team's leading goalscorer this term with 23, returning at centre-forward in place of Luuk de Jong.
Joan Jordan and Oliver Torres are among the options for change, but Suso should again retain his spot in an attacking spot, while Papu Gomez could again feature as part of a midfield three.
As for Athletic, Peru Nolaskoain, Iker Muniain, Yuri Berchiche and Ander Capa will again miss out through injury, but Unai Vencedor is available after a one-match ban.
There could be a change in the middle of the defence with Yeray Alvarez replacing Unai Nunez, while Vencedor might replace Unai Lopez in central midfield.
Inaki Williams and Raul Garcia should return in the final third of the field, but Jon Morcillo could retain his spot in a wide area, having found the back of the net against Valladolid last time out.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Fernando, Rakitic, Gomez; Suso, En-Nesyri, Ocampos
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Alvarez, Martinez, Balenziaga; Berenguer, D Garcia, Vencedor, Morcillo; Williams, R Garcia
We say: Sevilla 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
This is potentially a very, very tricky game for Sevilla, who must keep winning to stay in the title argument. Athletic are more than capable of picking up a positive result in this match, but we just fancy the home side to edge a tight contest, with En-Nesyri perhaps scoring the game's winning goal.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sevilla win with a probability of 53.85%. A draw had a probability of 25.6% and a win for Athletic Bilbao had a probability of 20.52%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.15%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.94%) and 2-1 (9.24%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.95%), while for an Athletic Bilbao win it was 0-1 (7.74%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood.
