Sevilla will be bidding to record just their second victory of the 2023-24 campaign when they welcome Almeria to Estadio Ramon in La Liga on Tuesday night.
The home side, who are 16th in the table, will enter the match off the back of a goalless draw with Osasuna, while basement team Almeria played out a 2-2 draw with Valencia last time out.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sevilla finished 12th in La Liga last season, which proved to be their worst final spot in Spain's top flight since being relegated at the end of the 1999-2000 campaign.
Jose Luis Mendilibar managed to lead the team to the Europa League title last season, which secured a position in the group stage of the 2023-24 Champions League, and they opened their European campaign with a 1-1 draw against Lens at Estadio Ramon last week.
Sevilla were back in La Liga action on Saturday, playing out a goalless draw with Osasuna, which has left them in 16th position in the table on four points from five matches.
Los Nervionenses started their league season with three straight losses to Valencia, Alaves and Girona, with their four points coming in their last two matches, beating Las Palmas 1-0 in their last home fixture in Spain's top flight.
There have been small steps in the right direction in recent matches, and a win on Tuesday would lead them nicely into a huge match away to Barcelona on September 29.
© Reuters
Almeria, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 2-2 draw with Valencia on Saturday; Sergio Arribas netted twice for the home side at Power Horse Stadium to make it four goals for the season, with the attacker certainly catching the eye in 2023-24.
La Union only just survived relegation from Spain's top flight last season, finishing in 17th position, only one point clear of the bottom three, so their struggles this term are not too surprising.
UDA have picked up just two points from their six league matches this season courtesy of two draws and four defeats, which has left them bottom of the table.
Vicente Moreno's side started their campaign with successive losses to Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid before claiming a point against Cadiz.
Almeria then suffered back-to-back defeats to Celta Vigo and Villarreal before the draw with Valencia on Saturday, and they will go in search of their first win of the season on Tuesday night.
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Sevilla have a lengthy injury list at this moment in time, with Mariano Diaz, Sergio Ramos, Suso, Marcos Acuna, Marcao, Tanguy Nianzou and Alfonso Pastor all on the sidelines.
Mendilibar could still make changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Osasuna last time out, though, with Youssef En-Nesyri likely to return at centre-forward.
Adria Pedrosa and Erik Lamela are also in line for starts on Tuesday, but Dodi Lukebakio, who was on the scoresheet against Las Palmas earlier this month, should keep his spot.
Almeria, meanwhile, will be missing Marc Pubill, Alejandro Pozo and Martin Svidersky through injury.
The visitors did not pick up any fresh fitness problems against Valencia, but there are likely to be alterations to the side, with Largie Ramazani potentially being introduced in place of Adri Embarba.
Ibrahima Kone for Dion Lopy is another change that could occur in the middle of the park, which was a substitution that took place during the second half of the clash with Valencia.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Nyland; Sanchez, Bade, Gudelj, Pedrosa; Jordan, Rakitic; Ocampos, Lamela, Lukebakio; En-Nesyri
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Chumi, Montes, Gonzalez, Akieme; Robertone, Kone; Ramazani, Melero, Arribas; Suarez
We say: Sevilla 1-0 Almeria
Sevilla are yet to really get going this season, but they will bring a three-game unbeaten run into this contest, including a win over Las Palmas in their last home league match. Almeria are capable of picking up a positive result here, but we are just backing a narrow Sevilla win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.