Sevilla vs Athletic Club preview

March 1, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

After coming from behind to defeat bitter rival Real Betis, Sevilla are very much in the title race and they are hoping to make it five victories on the bounce in midweek.

Looking to spoil the party will be top 4 hopefuls Athletic Club, who recovered from back to back defeats to defeat struggling Granada.

Jorge Sampaoli definitely faced a difficult task after succeeding Unai Emery at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but the Chilean didn’t need a lot of time to prove why he is widely regarded as one of world’s leading coaches.

Under his command, Sevilla have made it to the Champions League knockout stages and are close to reaching the quarter-finals, but it is the impressive La Liga campaign that has been making the headlines.

For the first time in years, los Rojiblancos find themselves incredibly close to El Clasico rivals heading into the business end of the season, while they now boast a seven-point advantage over fourth-placed Atletico Madrid.

Jorge Sampaoli’s rotation policy has worked like a charm during the hectic schedule while his players showed a great deal of character to win difficult games against Leicester City and Real Betis.

Sevilla have now been made 1.70 (7/10) favourites to see off Athletic Bilbao, although it is important to note that the likes of Steven N’Zonzi, Nico Pareja and Pablo Sarabia all miss out through suspension.

January recruit Clement Lenglet may not be risked as he hasn’t fully recovered from injury, while Mariano, Iborra and Ben Yedder should be recalled.

Probable starting line-up (3-4-2-1): Rico – Rami, Carrico, Mercado – Mariano, Nasri, Kranevitter, Escudero – Vitolo, Iborra – Ben Yedder.

Athletic Bilbao’s La Liga performances often suffer from club’s ambition to give their best in every single competition entered, which is virtually impossible.

Rather than employing a sensible rotation policy like their next opponents, los Leones tend to play at full strength whenever possible, and that is the main reason why they are often running on empty in the closing stages of a season.

The same thing appears to be happening again as Athletic have now been eliminated from Copa del Rey and Europa League, although that could prove a blessing in disguise.

Los Leones trail their top 4 rivals seven points, but are in a good position to secure Europa League qualification, which is not a bad consolation prize.

Athletic managed to recover from the European exit to defeat sorry Granada, but they will obviously face a much tougher task against in-form Sevilla.

On top of that, head coach Ernesto Valverde faces serious selection problems as Aritz Aduriz, Oscar De Marcos, Sabin Merino and Kepa are all out injured.

Raul Garcia returns from suspension, while Aymeric Laporte is rated doubtful as he battles a hip injury sustained against Valencia.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Iraizoz – Boveda, Yeray Alvarez, Etxeita, Balenziaga – San Jose, Benat – Susaeta, Raul Garcia, Muniain – Williams.

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