Having eliminated La Liga rivals Villarreal in style, Europa League holders aim to get closer to the title defence with a win over star-studded Zenit side.

The Russians have all but secured another domestic title, meaning they can fully focus on the highly anticipated clash at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but they arrive in Spain without a number of key men.

Sevilla have undergone a major resurgence since former Valencia coach Unai Emery took over the reigns and it looks as though last year’s Europa League title was just the start.

Los Rojiblancos continued with impressive performances this season and they are again very close to meeting their pre-season objectives.

Sevilla did really well to revive their top 4 hopes in La Liga with five straight wins, while the 2-2 draw with Barcelona must have served as another confidence boost as Unai Emery’s charges came back from two goals down.

Meanwhile, los Rojiblancos eased off into the Europa League quarter-finals and are now priced at 1.67 (2/3) to defeat suspension-hit Zenit in the first leg.

Coach Unai Emery is sweating over the fitness of Daniel Carrico, who is battling a muscle injury, but the Portuguese is expected to start.

Goalkeeper Beto continues to miss out, while Kevin Gameiro and Stephane M’Bia could be drafted into the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Rico – Coke, Pareja, Carrico, Tremoulinas – M’Bia, Krychowiak – Vidal, Banega, Vitolo – Gameiro.

Once again, star-studded Zenit side have failed to prove their worth in Europe’s elite competition, with Andre Villas-Boas’ side finishing third in their Champions League group.

They have since done well to eliminate PSV Eindhoven and Torino, reaching the Europa League quarter-finals, but will have bigger fish to fry when they face holders Sevilla.

Team’s domestic campaign has been going according to plan, with Zenit holding an eight-point advantage at the top with seven games to go.

In spite of the weekend’s draw with Rubin Kazan, Andre Villas-Boas’ side head into the Sevilla clash in great spirits, although serious selection problems are hanging over their heads.

Namely, the likes of Hulk, Danny, Domenico Criscito and Igor Smolnikov are all banned, whilst Viktor Faizulin miss out through injury.

It is, therefore, not that surprising that Zenit are no less than 6.10 (51/10) with 888sport to win the first leg at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Lodygin – Anyukov, Garay, Neto, Lombaerts – Witsel, Javi Garcia – Shatov, Mogilevets, Ryazantsev – Rondon.