Sevilla will be bidding to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout round of the Champions League alive when they welcome Copenhagen to Estadio Ramon on Tuesday night.
The La Liga outfit are third in Group G, five points behind second-placed Borussia Dortmund, while Copenhagen are fourth in the section but level on points (two) with their opponents here.
Match preview
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Sevilla face an uphill task to qualify for the round of 16, with just two points from four matches leaving them third in the section, and they also face the possibility of missing out on a Europa League spot.
A victory at least on Tuesday would keep their hopes of qualification alive, although a win for Dortmund against Manchester City in the later match in the section would make it impossible for Sevilla to advance to the next round of the competition.
Under the circumstances, finishing third in the group would not be the end of the world for Sevilla, who have found it difficult to get going in the opening months of the 2022-23 campaign.
Jorge Sampaoli's side will enter the match off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in La Liga on Saturday, which has left them down in 14th position in Spain's top flight.
Sevilla opened their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 home defeat to Man City before drawing 0-0 with Copenhagen in the middle of September; the Spanish outfit then lost 4-1 at home to Dortmund before picking up a point in the reverse fixture in Germany last time out.
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Copenhagen might be fourth in the section, but it is not impossible for them to make the round of 16 if they manage to win their final two matches.
Third position in the section is also very much open at this stage, and Jacob Neestrup's side can take encouragement from the fact that Sevilla have already suffered two big defeats at home in the Champions League this season.
Copenhagen lost their Group G opener against Dortmund before drawing 0-0 with Sevilla, but they then suffered a 5-0 defeat away to Man City, which left them with just one point from three matches.
The Danish outfit held Man City to a goalless draw last time out, though, which will have given them huge encouragement ahead of their final two games in the section against Sevilla (A) and Dortmund (H).
Byens Hold will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Midtjylland in the league on Saturday, with the result leaving them in seventh position in the table on 18 points, and they have already suffered six defeats in the Danish Superliga during the current season.
Team News
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Sevilla will again be missing key centre-back Tanguy Nianzou on Tuesday night through injury, while Marcos Acuna, Karim Rekik, Fernando and Jesus Manuel Corona are all set to miss out once again.
Head coach Sampaoli is likely to make changes from the side that took to the field against Real Madrid, with Rafa Mir, Thomas Delaney and Papu Gomez potentially coming into the XI.
Erik Lamela, who was on the scoresheet at Bernabeu on Saturday, should also feature in the final third.
Isco might be among the players to drop out on Tuesday, with head coach Sampaoli likely to use Rafa Mir as the centre-forward in a 4-3-3 formation.
As for Copenhagen, Marko Stamenic will miss out on Tuesday evening through injury, which opens up a spot in midfield, with Paul Mukairu potentially coming into the side.
Akinkunmi Amoo, Zeca, Nicolai Boilesen and Andreas Cornelius, meanwhile, will miss out for the visitors here due to injury.
There are not expected to be any major surprises in the Copenhagen XI, with a 3-4-3 formation likely to include both Mohamed Daramy and Victor Claesson in the forward positions.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bono; Montiel, Gudelj, Marcao, Telles; Delaney, Jordan, Torres; Gomez, Mir, Lamela
Copenhagen possible starting lineup:
Grabara; Khocholava, Boilesen, Jensen; Jalert, Mukairu, Lerager, Kristiansen; Haraldsson, Claesson, Daramy
We say: Sevilla 2-1 Copenhagen
This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and we are expecting a tight encounter on Tuesday night. Sevilla will be confirmed to finish at least third if they are victorious, and we are backing the La Liga side to navigate their way to a huge three points at Estadio Ramon.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
