The Sunday’s clash at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan will be the third consecutive meeting between Sevilla and Real Madrid in two weeks’ time. Los Blancos will attempt to extend their incredible unbeaten run, whereas Sevilla will attempt to finally take the royal scalp after two failed attempts.

Six-pointer for Sevilla

A 6-3 aggregate Copa del Rey defeat aside, the forthcoming clash against Real Madrid bears a much bigger importance for Jorge Sampaoli’s Sevilla. Los Rojiblancos are enjoying a brilliant spell in La Liga and the Sunday’s match is a proper six-pointer for Sevilla. Sampaoli’s men are sitting in second place in the standings, only four points adrift of Los Blancos and a possible win could put great twist on La Liga title race, which is exactly what Rojiblancos are hoping will happen. It’s been four games since Sevilla last defeated Real Madrid, but Sampaoli’s men came agonisingly close to doing so on Thursday when Karim Benzema’s dying-moment leveller denied Los Rojiblancos in the second leg of Copa del Rey last-16 tie. Sevilla opened the scoring courtesy of Danilo’s own goals, as Real madrid were made to chase the result. Marco Asensio equalised shortly after the second-half kick-off whistle, whereas January signing Stevan Jovetic scored in his first-ever game for Sevilla to make it 2-1. Iborra’s goal opened a two-goal lead, but Sergio Ramos and Benzema made sure Real went home unbeaten.

Benoit Tremoulinas and Michael Krohn-Dehli are yet to feature this season due to long-term injuries, whereas Jorge Sampaoli will also be without Daniel Carrico and Carlos Fernandez.

Real Deal

Zinedine Zidane has experienced his fair share of criticism when he was appointed Real Madrid boss, but the French legend is compensating the lack of managerial experience with great tactical knowledge and impressive results. With their 3-3 stalemate at Sevilla last time out, Los Blancos have now gone 40 games unbeaten which is the new Spanish record. Their last defeat occurred back in April 2016 when Los Blancos suffered a 2-0 blow at the hands of Wolfsburg in the Champions League.  The extraordinary circumstances from the 3-3 draw at Sevilla allowed Real Madrid to break Barcelona’s record and there is no doubt that Los Blancos will be looking to extend the fantastic stretch of form as they prepare for the second trip to Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in just four days. The capital outfit have really been the best of what Spain has to offer this season as they remain in the running for multiple major honours this season. La Liga and Champions League remain the two top priorities, although Los Blancos will also look to go as far as possible in the Copa del Rey.

Long-term absentee Gareth Bale is still way off from returning to action, while defender Pepe will miss another game through calf injury. In addition, Los Blancos will be without Isco, James Rodriguez and Luka Modric, who could be sorely missed against tough Sevilla.

Verdict

There is hardly anything left untold between the two sides who go head to head for the third time in two weeks. Sevilla will be extremely eager to get one back to Real Madrid and we do expect to see another highly-contested match. Going for goals will give best value to your bets.

Top pick: Both teams to score – yes   1.45 (5/11) @10Bet

Alternative pick 1: Draw & Both teams to score   4.60 (18/5) @888Sport

Alternative pick 2: Sevilla to lead at any time   1.45 (9/20) @BetVictor