A somewhat high flying Barcelona travel to the Estádio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to do battle with an off colour Sevilla on Matchday 4 in La Liga.
The Catalans have earned 7 points out of a possible 9 so far, winning their last two games in typical Barcelona fashion. With the transfer window finally shut, Barça begin a brutal schedule with one of the toughest away games of the season.
The season has not began for Sevilla as well as they'd have hoped, drawing one and losing two. This is largely due to their defensive frailties after losing the formidable pair of Koundé (to Barcelona) and Carlos (to Aston Villa). That being said, they can and should never be taken for granted. It's expected that they'll create some fireworks against Barcelona in Andalusia.
INTERESTING STATS
Considering the Sevilla of recent years is one of the strongest ever, Barça have had some extraordinarily good results against them.
They have only lost three times to the Andalusians in their last 35 meetings across all competitions.
In La Liga, Barça have now gone for 13 games without losing to Sevilla either at home or away. The Catalans have won three of the last six league games at the Sánchez Pizjuán, and the other three games ended in draws.
LAST TEN MEETINGS
03/04/22 (LIGA) Barça 1 Sevilla 0
21/12/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 1 Barça 1
03/03/21 (C DEL REY) Barça 3 Sevilla 0
27/02/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 2
10/02/21 (C DEL REY) Sevilla 2 Barça 0
04/10/20 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Coutinho) Sevilla 1
19/06/20 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 0
06/10/19 (LIGA) Barça 4 (Suárez, Vidal, Dembélé, Messi) Sevilla 0
23/02/19 (LIGA) Sevilla 2 Barça 4 (Messi 3, Suárez)
30/01/19 (C DEL REY) Barça 6 Coutinho 2, Rakitic, S Roberto, Suárez, Messi) Sevilla 1
TEAM NEWS
Xavi has a very strong squad to call upon for this fixture.
Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso, having joined on deadline day, will not be part of the squad. Andreas Christensen had recovered from illness and will be available for selection. With the Champions League opener against Viktoria Plzen on the horizon, Xavi might be tempted to rotate.
Sevilla will be without Marcao, Jesus Corona and Karim Rekik due to injuries. New signing Adrian Januzaj has also been left out. Marcos Acuna will be available for selection after returning from Suspension and is expect to unseat Alex Telles as LB.
New signings Isco and Kasper Dolberg are expect to make am appearance at some point in the game. Former Barcelona man Ivan Rakitic is expect to command their midfield. Lucas Ocampos will have no part to play in this fixture as his move to Ajax has been confirmed.
It's not going to get any easier for Sevilla as they will be expecting Manchester City in a few days time for their Champions League opener.
Where are Sevilla vs Barcelona playing?
Location: Seville, Spain
Stadium: Estádio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán
Date: Saturday 3 September
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST
VAR: Gil Manzano
Referee: Mateu Lahoz
CONCLUSION
Sevilla are not in the best form coming into this game and with the clash against Manchester City looking over their shoulders, they'll be under immense pressure to get this one right. As such, they shouldn't be taken for granted. Ever.
FC Barcelona however, will be ready to pile on the misery on the Seville outfit. This is a chance for a vibrant Barcelona attack to pounce and wreak havoc at the Pizjuán.
Playing in Seville is never easy, but now's a good a time as any to do so. Barcelona have so much talent, and we are expecting Xavi's side to make it three straight wins in relatively comfortable fashion considering the difficulty of the match.
LFG 🔵🔴⚽🏟️
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