PSV vs Sevilla prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-02-22 17:45.
It would take a comeback of historic proportions to rescue PSV’s UEFA Europa League (UEL) dreams after losing the first leg away from home against competition specialists Sevilla by a 3-0 margin. PSV laboured to a 2-2 draw against Utrecht in Sunday’s Eredivisie action, raising further questions about their ability to overcome what would be a club record deficit to progress.
Scoring twice against the Andalusians as a player, PSV boss Ruud van Nistelrooy will need a little more than that from his men if they’re to stop a four-tie streak of eliminations against Spanish opponents. Rarely a soft touch on their own turf though, PSV have won without reply in three of their last four UEL home games and have lost just one of their last nine here in the competition proper (W6, D2, L1).
In spite of PSV’s strong home record in the competition, four-time UEL winners Sevilla can take stock of the fact that none of the last seven Spanish visitors to Eindhoven were defeated (W4, D3). Some positive form across the last five La Liga rounds has helped move Sevilla away from the relegation places, although Jorge Sampaoli’s men could do with another strong showing in Europe amidst their joint-worst 22-game La Liga record in this century.
The first leg victory levelled Sevilla’s H2H record against Dutch sides (W2, L2) and kept them on track for a third straight UEL trophy when facing Eredivisie opposition! It’s perhaps unsurprising that the UEL’s most successful side have an incredible record of 22 progressions from 25 UEL knockout ties, yet a nine-game winless run of European away games (D5, L4) threatens to slow them down in this particular outing.
Key battle: PSV’s English defender Jarrad Branthwaite has incredibly scored three of his side’s nine goals across their last two home games, almost doubling his career goals tally. He’ll be trying to keep out the likes of Sevilla first-leg scorer Nemanja Gudelj, who has never drawn a game against PSV in his career (W4, L7).
Hot stat: Only once in 44 previous UEL ties has a side progressed when trailing by a 3+ goal margin after the first leg.