La Liga: Barca’s Next Marker is a Win Over Sevilla

Barcelona vs Sevilla

Third plays second in the La Liga clash of the weekend when Xavi’s bouncing Barcelona welcome stuttering Sevilla to the Camp Nou.

A few short weeks ago Barcelona were struggling to break into the top four places while Sevilla were hunting down league leaders Real Madrid, but the Catalans are on the charge and a win on Sunday will see them leapfrog Los Sevillistas into second place. At SBOTOP odds of 1.46 Barcelona are highly fancied to take all three points. And if Los Blancos slip up in a tricky game away to mid table Celta Vigo then the gap between the El Clasico rivals will be down to nine points and Barca have a game in hand.

It’s still a huge advantage and the La Liga 2022 betting odds rate Real Madrid as heavily odds on, but Barcelona fans are starting to wonder if the seemingly impossible might just happen. 

First they must beat Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla… and the form book says they will.

Talking Points

Barcelona is still buzzing

The hosts come into the game full of confidence having hammered Los Blancos is El Clasico, the latest in strong run of La Liga 2022 results which have opened up a slim possibility that the Blaugrana can challenge for the title. A 1-0 defeat to Real Betis in December is the only league loss under Xavi, and at that point the Catalans were 16 points off the top. But a sequence of nine wins and three draws in the last 12 makes Barcelona the form team and, after winning the last five on the bounce, midfield general Sergio Busquets issued a rallying cry on Spanish radio, saying: “We still have hope and will keep it alive until the end. We have to win our games and see what happens. We are on a very good run. This is the mentality we need to have to keep alive our chances.”  

There is no doubting that the manager’s moves in the January transfer market have made a huge impact. With seven goals in seven league games Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is hot on the heels of top scorer Memphis Depay who has ten goals, and Ferran Torres has been highly impressive on the wing or down the middle. And the team has benefited from the return of fit again Ousmane Dembele, who has made nine assists in 12 matches.

Sevilla on a slippery slope

But while the smiles are getting wider at the Camp Nou, in Andalusia there are furrowed brows. The team which stayed in the 2021 title race until the final week and looked like the main challengers again this term, have faded badly in recent weeks. Before the international break Sevilla were dumped out of the Europa League by West Ham United and then held to a 0-0 draw at home by Real Sociedad, the seventh draw in nine league games. And while Barca’s January transfer moves were slick, Lopetegui’s signings of Antony Martial and Tecatito Corona have not had the desired effect.  

Star strikers Lucas Ocampos and Youssef En Nesyri have not been as prolific as in previous seasons, with five and three goals respectively, though 6ft 3in striker Rafa Mir has stepped up with eight goals from 26 appearances in his first season. This is an experienced side, with wingback Jesus Navas and wide man Ivan Rakitic influential as ever, but injuries to midfield ace Suso and Argentine defender Marcos Acuna have hampered their progress.    

Sevilla’s old spark is now little more than a flicker in this title race, and they need to work hard to stop it being extinguished altogether.

History

Barcelona are unbeaten in 16 games at home to Sevilla and they have won 41 of the last 68 encounters between the two sides; so history is very much on the side of the Catalans.

With an away record of five wins from 15 games it’s hard to see Los Sevillistas breaking that 16 game sequence any time soon. But they did hold their own in the return match with a 1-1 draw at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan , even though they went down to ten men. Papu Gomez finished first time to give Sevilla a lead but when Ronald Araujo’s header made it 1-1 and Jules Kounde was sent off, the hosts were happy to hold out for a point.

Of course, recent form favours the Blaugrana too; with five wins and a draw from the last six games they are in a purple patch, while Sevilla have stuttered along with two wins, two draws and two defeats in that time.

Betting Tip

Sevilla are at odds of 2.08 with a one goal start, but I’m sticking with my faith in a vastly improved Barcelona team and for a correct score-line, 2-0 at 5.99 may not be far from the mark.

 

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