Sevilla will be eyeing their seventh La Liga victory of the season when they welcome lowly Real Valladolid to Estadio Ramon on Saturday night.
Julen Lopetegui's side, who have won their last three games in all competitions, are currently sixth in Spain's top flight, while Valladolid occupy 17th position and are just two points outside of the relegation zone.
Match preview
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Sevilla have struggled for consistency in La Liga this season, winning six but losing four of their 11 matches, with a total of 19 points leaving them in sixth position in the table.
The Europa League holders are only three points behind fourth-placed Villarreal, though, and have two games in hand over the Yellow Submarine, while Barcelona are just a point above in fifth and have played one more match than Lopetegui's side.
Sevilla booked their spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League courtesy of finishing second behind Chelsea in Group E, while they advanced to the second round of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night by recording a comfortable 3-0 victory away to Ciudad de Lucena.
Los Nervionenses have won four of their last five in the league, meanwhile, having recovered from a 1-0 home defeat to Real Madrid on December 5 with a win over Getafe last weekend.
Sevilla will be the favourites to pick up another three points on Saturday, and a victory would lead them nicely into back-to-back games against Valencia and Villarreal to end 2020.
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Valladolid, meanwhile, have picked up 13 points from their 13 matches this season to sit 17th in the table, two points clear of 18th-placed Levante, who have a game in hand.
The White and Violets finished 13th in Spain's top flight last term and will be determined to secure a third straight campaign at this level, but the early indications are that it could be a tough season.
Sergio Gonzalez's side have won four of their last six games in all competitions, though, including a 3-2 success at home to Osasuna in the league last weekend.
Valladolid also thumped Cantolagua 5-0 in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night and will therefore enter this weekend's match in good form despite largely struggling for positive results this term.
Sevilla La Liga form: LWWWLW
Sevilla form (all competitions): WLLWWW
Real Valladolid La Liga form: LWWDLW
Real Valladolid form (all competitions): WWDLWW
Team News
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Sevilla will again be without the services of Tomas Vaclik, Sergio Escudero and Munir El Haddadi through injury, but Jesus Navas should shake off a knock to start at right-back.
Youssef En-Nesyri is expected to get the nod over Luuk de Jong in the final third, while Suso is likely to join Lucas Ocampos in an attacking position, with Joan Jordan, Fernando and Ivan Rakitic in midfield.
Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos were both left out of the starting XI in the Copa del Rey earlier this week, but the pair should return to the side for Saturday's league contest.
As for Valladolid, Kiko Olivas and Saidy Janko are unavailable through injury, while Javi Sanchez and Kike Perez will face late fitness tests ahead of the contest.
Shon Weissman scored twice in his side's 3-2 win over Osasuna last weekend and should again join Maranhao in the final third, with Oscar Plano and Fabian Orellana operating in the wide areas.
Janko's absence will open the door for Pablo Hervias to feature at right-back, but Portuguese youngster Jota is expected to start on the bench once again.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Jordan, Fernando, Rakitic; Suso, En-Nesyri, Ocampos
Real Valladolid possible starting lineup:
Masip; Hervias, Fernandez, Gonzalez, Nacho; Orellana, Alcaraz, Mesa, Plano; Weissman, Maranhao
We say: Sevilla 2-0 Real Valladolid
Valladolid will enter this match in good form and will fancy their chances of causing Sevilla problems over the course of the 90 minutes. Sevilla's recent results have also been impressive, though, and we fancy Lopetegui's side to ease to a victory on Saturday night.
Top betting 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 56.39%. A draw had a probability of 24.2% and a win for Real Valladolid had a probability of 19.45%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.07%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.97%) and 2-1 (9.59%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.42%), while for a Real Valladolid win it was 0-1 (6.81%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood.
