Gameweek two in Group B of the Champions League will see PSV Eindhoven look to secure their first points in the competition when they take on Sevilla at Philips Stadion on Tuesday evening.
The hosts are currently at the bottom of the group standings, having suffered a big loss to Arsenal in week one, while the visitors are in third place following a 1-1 draw against Lens on the same day.
Match preview
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PSV missed out on a Champions League spot last season as they were knocked out during qualifying by Rangers, but they got their revenge this term as it was the Dutch side that sent the Scottish league giants packing in the playoff qualifiers.
As a result, PSV secured their first group stage qualification in their last three attempts and returned to Europe's elite club competition for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they finished bottom of their group.
The Farmers had a solid Europa League campaign last season, finishing second in their group, and they will now have the opportunity to pay back the opponents that knocked them out of that competition 3-2 on aggregate in the first knockout round.
While Peter Bosz's side suffered a 4-0 defeat against Arsenal in gameweek one, that was the only loss they have conceded this season, as their Eredivisie form has been impeccable, boasting a perfect record of seven wins in seven, and they will be hoping to bring their domestic form to this competition for the remainder of the group stage.
The Red and Whites are also carrying an incredible home record into this match, including six consecutive wins in all competitions, and are unbeaten at Philips Stadion in 19 competitive matches (W17 D2 L0), dating all the way back to November 2022.
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While Sevilla's domestic form took a massive dip last season, their performance in the Europa League was excellent yet again as they went on to extend their record in the competition by adding a seventh title to their names.
After making a very slow start to the current season, which included three consecutive losses in their first three league matches, Los Nervionenses have looked better since then, going four matches without defeat and delivering an admirable performance in their 1-0 loss to Barcelona last weekend.
In that match, Sevilla went toe-to-toe with the reigning league champions and were arguably a little unfortunate not to have come away with anything after denying their opponents the lead until a Sergio Ramos own goal broke the deadlock in the 76th minute.
However, while there has been an evident improvement for Los Hispalenses over the last few weeks, it is worth noting that their away record is still very poor, failing to win any of their last six competitive matches and last tasting victory on the road in May this year.
Despite Sevilla's fantastic record in the Europa League in recent years, they have been unable to find the same sort of success in this competition, having failed to qualify for the knockout stages in the last two seasons and winning just one match in each edition, both of which came on home soil.
Team News
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Bosz will have two certain absentees for this match, with Armando Obispo and Mauro Junior both suffering from knee injuries and expected to remain sidelined for a while longer.
Luuk de Jong is PSV's highest goalscorer this season, with six to his name, and he will almost certainly start in this match alongside Noa Lang, who scored the opening goal against Volendam last week.
Guus Til could return to midfield after making an immediate impact by scoring within two minutes of being brought on in the last match to register his third goal in as many matches.
Jose Luis Mendilibar has a sizeable casualty list to contend with, starting with Youssef En-Nesyri, who is recovering from an ankle injury and is not expected to return for another couple of weeks.
Oliver Torres (muscle), Marcao (thigh), Tanguy Nianzou (hamstring) and Alfonso Pastor (meniscus) are yet to feature this season, and none of them are expected to be involved until mid-October.
Having failed to score in their last two matches, Mendilibar may be tempted into recalling Rafa Mir to attack, which could mean that Dodi Lukebakio drops into midfield, potentially in place of Lucas Ocampos.
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Teze, Bella-Kotchap, Boscagli, Dest; Gil, Veerman, Saibari; Lang, De Jong, Bakayoko
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Nyland; Sanchez, Bade, Ramos, Pedrosa; Jordan, Sow, Lamela, Rakitic, Lukebakio; Mir
We say: PSV Eindhoven 2-1 Sevilla
While there has been a notable uptick in Sevilla's performances in the last few weeks, PSV's record at home is formidable, and they have begun this season exceptionally well. We expect a high-quality match between these sides but feel the hosts will come out on top at the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
