Sevilla returned into contention for Champions League places with an away victory over Valencia and they could skip few more places in the standings by winning this game. Atletico ended the good run of results with an unlucky defeat to Barcelona and they have to try and beat Sevilla in order to arrest their descend down the La Liga standings.

Sevilla back in business

As the squad underwent major changes in the summer, Sevilla were always going to have problems in the first part of the season, but the club chiefs eventually lost their patience with Marcelino Garcia Toral and brought former Getafe boss Michel to replace him. The talented boss hardly had a perfect debut as los Rojiblancos were beaten by Real Sociedad, but back to back wins over Osasuna and Valencia hinted the chiefs had made the right decision. The two victories not only did wonders for the players’ confidence, but also saw the team close the gap behind fourth-placed Levante to just three points, which means los Rojiblancos are now effectively back to the race for Champions League places. Sevilla now prepare to tackle very good Atletico Madrid side, but being very high on confidence at the moment the hosts will fancy their chances against los Colchoneros.

Alvaro Negredo and Diego Perotti miss out through injury, but Federico Fazio, Ivan Rakitic and Emir Spahic should be fit to play.

Unlucky defeat to Barcelona

Atletico Madrid have also undergone a real resurgence since appointing a new coach and Diego Simeone’s effect on the squad is even bigger than that of Michel on Sevilla. Los Colchoneros have largely impressed under the Argentine, recording five wins and four draws before losing to Barcelona at the weekend, but the game against mighty Barca also proved how far the team have come over the last few weeks. Los Colchoneros were able to match their more illustrious opponents for large periods of the game and even had 11 shots on goal as opposed to Barcelona’s 7. The confident performance against one of world’s strongest sides is likely to give the team an additional boost before the clash with Sevilla, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Atletico dominate this game as well.

Radamel Falcao Garcia and Diego Godin miss out through suspension, whereas Diego remain sidelined with injury.

Verdict

The stakes are high at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan seeing that the two sides are direct rivals for Champions League places. I, therefore, expect to see a tight game with chances few and far between, and with both sides without their top scorers, under 2.5 goals looks like the obvious choice.

Our prediction: Under 2.5 goals

Odds: 1.80 (4/5)

Bookmaker: Paddy Power