Sevilla vs Liverpool previewBy Jack Gill
The Reds face Sevilla in Seville at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium on Tuesday with both teams currently sitting in the top 2 of Group E in the Champions League with Sevilla just a point behind us. Both teams go into this game on the back of a win on Matchday 4, and with there being 8 goals in the previous 2 fixtures between the sides, there should be an exciting game ahead. Both sides know that a win would take them through to the knockout stages and The Reds know that we will top the group with a win.
Sevilla currently sit in 5th place in La Liga, 12 points behind league leaders Barcelona, coming into this game off the back of a 2-1 victory against Celta Vigo on Sunday. Their recent form isn’t great and inconsistency has been their problem so far this season as highlighted by a 4-0 hammering by Valencia in the league and the shock 5-1 defeat on Matchday 3 of the Champions League in Moscow. Despite the lack of consistency, Sevilla have a very good home record as they are unbeaten after 9 games in all competitions this season. Their record at Home in La Liga is better than both Real and Athletico Madrid’s this season as they have only conceded 3 goals and not lost at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium this season. In their previous 4 home games against English opposition Sevilla have won 3 of them.
In the reverse fixture at Anfield on 13th September, a 2-2 draw was recorded. We conceded early on to a Ben Yedder goal after a defensive error from Dejan Lovren. Liverpool reacted well to this and we got our reward 17 minutes later after superb play from Alberto Moreno led to the Spaniard squaring the ball to Bobby Firmino who levelled, before a deflected Salah strike on the 37th minute put us 2-1 up. On the stroke of half-time, Mane won a penalty for The Reds as he was bundled to the ground by Pareja. The resulting spot-kick by Firmino sent Rico the wrong way but hit the post and stayed out. Sevilla manager, Eduardo Berizzo was sent to the stands after an hour due to throwing the ball away on 2 different occasions in the second half. Anfield was frustrated all evening as we missed huge chances to put the game to bed before Correa equalised for Sevilla in the 72nd minute. To finish a frustrating night for us Reds, Joe Gomez was sent off for a second bookable offence in stoppage time at the end of the match.
The Reds go to Sevilla in great form. We have won our last 4 games since our heavy defeat to Tottenham at Wembley, scoring 13 goals and conceding 1 keeping 3 clean sheets in our last 4. Furthermore, Lallana being back gives us a huge boost and a win would mean we finish top of the group and would be able to rest key players on Matchday 6 when Spartak Moscow come to Anfield at the start of a busy December.
Team News:
Joel Matip isn’t fit enough to travel to Seville so is left out of the 23-man squad who travelled to Spain on Monday. Nathaniel Clyne, still out with his long term back injury so also hasn’t travelled with the squad. Good news for the Reds in that Adam Lallana is in the squad and should feature for the first time this season after picking up a thigh injury during preseason. Danny Ings, who has only featured once this season, after long-term injury problems in the last two years has travelled with the squad to Seville. Loris Karius is expected to start as he has in our previous 4 games in the Champions league this season.
For Sevilla, Joaquim Correa who scored the late equaliser at Anfield is unlikely to feature in the game due to a muscle problem. Sevilla are also still without 29 year old Centre back Daniel Carrico who has a muscle injury. Right-back Gabriel Mercardo is absent as well due to a hamstring injury he sustained against Spartak Moscow.
We are looking for our first win against Sevilla in a European competition and in their previous 4 home games against English opposition Sevilla have won 3 of them. There is no doubt that this is our toughest fixture in the group stage of the Champions League this season, and with both teams wanting a win to guarantee qualification, the stakes are high for this match.
COME ON YOU REDS!!!YNWABy @Jacklfcgill__