Barcelona, despite their disastrous Champions League campaign, have been a force of nature in the domestic competitions. They sit 5 points clear at the top with 50 points, have won all their games in the new year so far while having the best defense in Europe. They also have a Spanish Super Cup trophy to show for their efforts. Now, back at the Spotify Camp Nou, where they've conceded only one goal this season (a penalty), they welcome a Sevilla side who seem to have found a bit of form as of late.
Los Nervionenses have finished in the top 4 for the last 3 seasons. This time, they are struggling to stay up. They sit at 14th currently, but are 2 points away from the drop. Having brought in Jorge Sampaoli to steady the ship, they've found a bit of balance lately, losing only one of their last four games. That'll give them a bit of confidence heading to Barcelona, but they'll need much more than that to trouble their illustrious hosts.
INTERESTING STATS
- In the last 70 meetings between the two teams, Barcelona have won 41 times, and 16 matches have ended in a draw. Sevilla have only managed 13 wins.
- In the last 32 meetings when the Catalan giants have hosted Sevilla, they have won 24 times, and only five have ended in a draw. The visitors have tasted victory only thrice.
- When the two go up against each other, the most common result has been FC Barcelona 2-1 Sevilla. This result has happened on eight occasions.
- It has been over a decade since Barca lost to Sevilla at home. The visitors Sevilla last won at Camp Nou against Barcelona back in 2010.
- Barcelona are unbeaten in the last ten La Liga matches. They last lost in the league back in October 2022.
Last five meetings
03/09/22 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 3 (Raphinha, Lewandowski, E Garcia)
03/04/22 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Pedri) Sevilla 0
21/12/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 1 Barça 1 (Araujo)
03/03/21 (C DEL REY) Barça 3 (Dembélé, Piqué, Braithwaite) Sevilla 0
27/02/21 (LIGA) Sevilla 0 Barça 2 (Dembélé, Messi)
TEAM NEWS
Barcelona
Ousmane Dembele remains the only absentee for the Blaugrana. As he is expected to be sidelined for most of February, the rest of the attackers will be expected to step up.
Marc Andre TerStegen will continue in goal. Alejandro Balde was said to have missed the last training due to fever and could possibly be replaced by Jordi Alba in the starting XI. Koundé, Araujo and Christensen will round up the defense.
Xavi has been favoring the 4 man midfield lately, and will likely continue as such here as there are no room for errors in the title race. Raphinha and Lewandowski will round up the starting XI.
Sevilla
Sampaoli will be without some important players for this clash.
Marcao and Marko Dmitrovic are both out with muscle injuries, while Alex Telles, is suffering from a knee problem. Papu Gomez, Jesus Corona and Jesus Navas are also in the infirmary. Adnan Januzaj has joined Istanbul Basaksehir on loan until the end of the season. Despite this list of absentees, Sevilla will feel quite confident with those available.
Yassine Bounou will be in the goal. Gonzalo Montiel, Nemanja Gudelj, Tanguy Nianzou, and Marcos Acuna will round up the defense.
Thomas Delaney and Ivan Rakitic will pivot the midfield, while Joan Jordan, Oliver Torres, and Erik Lamela will sit on top of the pivots and help out the lone frontman, Youssef En-Nesyri.
Where and when are Barcelona vs Sevilla playing?
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Stadium: Spotify Camp Nou
Date: Sunday 5 February
Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT / 17:00 EST / 12:00 PST, 21:00 🇳🇬
Referee: Jose Sanchez
Sevilla are desperate to stay up, and such opponents are never easy to beat. That said, they meet a very dogged Barcelona and face an uphill task of troubling the hosts.
A tightly contested and heated affair is expected, but it's hard to look past Barcelona taking all 3 points here as they too are in a desperate situation of their own: winning their first La Liga title in 3 years.
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