Espanyol vs Sevilla prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2022-09-09 14:15.
The Diego MartĂnez era at Espanyol finally got off the ground with victory at the fourth attempt last weekend (W1, D1, L2), as the Catalan outfit surprisingly won 1-0 away in Bilbao. However, this remains MartĂnezâs worst four-game start to a managerial tenure, but he will now hope that his side can kick on and climb up the table in search of maintaining his 100% record of finishing in the top-half of La Liga (LL).
Achieving such a feat with Espanyol will be no small task though as they survived by just a four-point margin in their first season back in Spainâs top tier last campaign. Now attention turns to fixing their rotten five-game winless run of top-flight home games (D2, L3), Espanyolâs longest since a seven-game run ending in 2021, but ending that in this match will be tough against a Sevilla side theyâve lost âto nilâ against in three of the last four home H2Hs.
Much like Espanyol, Sevilla are enduring a poor start to the LL season in what is actually their joint worst-start in competition history, and their first one-point return after four rounds since 1981/82 (D1, L3). Hampered by losing their two star defenders over the summer, that poor domestic form was only exacerbated by a poor showing in midweek Champions League action as they were humbled 4-0 by an Erling Haaland-inspired Manchester City.
On a brighter note, Sevilla have scored more goals against Espanyol (246) than they have against any other side in LL history. However, a failure to net at all across the last 240 minutes of competitive play – or more than once in any clash this season – casts doubt over manager Julen Lopeteguiâs chances of further H2H success here.
Players to watch: Martin Braithwaite had a debut to remember, scoring Espanyolâs first winning goal of the new campaign last time out. Sevillaâs Rafa Mir scored their opening goal of the campaign, but has since been booked in his last two appearances.
Hot stat: Each of Lopeteguiâs three personal H2H victories over Espanyol – from five such H2H games – came âto nilâ (W3, D2).