Sevilla vs Villarreal prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-08-22 19:30.
[p]In an usual La Liga matchday one, on which no fewer than 12 teams drew their opening game, Sevilla will be kicking themselves to know they’re one of those sides after twice throwing away a lead in a 2-2 draw against Las Palmas. New boss GarcĂa Pimienta described the result against the side he managed last season as “two points dropped” on his debut, but he’ll hope to see his side bounce back from that disappointment when Villarreal come to town for his RamĂłn Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium bow. [/p]
[p]Pimienta won both of his duels against Villarreal last season when at Las Palmas – making them the only side he managed to complete a league H2H double over last term! His arrival in the dugout should only help reinforce belief for a Sevilla side who’ve won an impressive 11 of the last 18 home H2Hs (D5, L2), although a W4, L3 record from their last seven home league games last season highlights that they are not necessarily a team to be trusted on home soil. [/p]
[p]Villarreal matched Sevilla’s unwanted feat of twice surrendering the lead on matchday one as they drew 2-2 against Atlético Madrid. Yellow Submarine coach Marcelino felt that was a “fair result”, but after he bemoaned a heavy fixture schedule in August that sees Villarreal play their first four games in the space of under two weeks, managing his players’ workload may be something he experiments with. [/p]
[p]In the immediacy though, he’d probably be wiser to worry about the alarming rate at which his side are leaking goals – a problem which plagued them towards the back end of last season too. Villarreal have now conceded 12 goals across their last six league outings, yet the fact they only lost one of those games (W2, D3) suggests they have the firepower to combat their shaky back line. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Sevilla’s Isaac Romero could make an early impact given three of his last four La Liga goals served to open the scoring before the 25th minute. He wasn’t on target on the opening weekend, but Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma was with a first-half game opener. Interestingly, his eight club goals prior all came after half-time. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Apart from Barcelona (18) and Real Madrid (15), Villarreal boss Marcelino has lost more managerial games against Sevilla (13) than any other club. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Chris Wilson[/i][/p]