La Liga: Real Betis to Test Sevilla’s Title Credentials

Real Betis vs Sevilla

One of the top La Liga games for this weekend is the upcoming battle between Real Betis and Sevilla happening at the Benito Villamarin Stadium.

Los Verdiblancos and Los Palanganas will add another chapter to their historic Seville derby rivalry. And as always, both clubs will not only fight for crucial points but also for bragging rights as well.

The race for this season’s title is getting tighter and both Real Betis and Sevilla can make a run for it if things fall into place in their favour.

These two proud sides aren’t far off from each other in the Spanish top-flight standings. Sevilla are at third with 24 points – level with Real Madrid and only trailing by one point behind pacesetters Real Sociedad – while Real Betis are at fifth with 21 points.

For this fixture, we expect another close affair between Real Betis and Sevilla and the pre-match SBOTOP betting odds agree.

Continue to read on below as we examine both clubs here in today’s match preview.

Talking Points

How will Real Betis respond after a bad week?

After experiencing a great week with wins over Rayo Vallecano and Valencia, Real Betis were humbled with back-to-back losses at the hands of Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen.

The disturbing theme about these defeat is that they’ve conceded seven goals total while they’ve scored none at all.

Atletico Madrid scored thrice to move up to fourth in the La Liga standings while Bayer Leverkusen simply outclassed Real Betis by finding the back of the net four times.

Real Betis will aim to upset the La Liga odds when they take on Sevilla this week — Real Betis’ Nabil Fekir reacts after he misses a chance to score against Bayer Leverkusen in Europa League

Nabil Fekir saw red against Die Werkself and his absence in their next Europa League match will be a huge blow for Los Verdiblancos, although he should be available in this weekend’s contest.

The French playmaker is their fourth leading scorer with two goals and three assists, and he’ll be joined by the likes of Juanmi, Borja Iglesias, and Willian Jose.

Pellegrini is expected to feature the same starting XI in the last time out. Claudio Bravo will remain between the sticks while Juan Miranda, German Pezzella, Victor Ruiz, and Hector Bellerin are going to marshal the backline.

William Carvalho and Andres Guardado will join Nabil Fekir in the middle, while forwards Joaquin and Aitor Ruibal are going to contend for a start.

Sevilla out to prove themselves

Sevilla are one of the hottest teams in La Liga today. They’re unbeaten in their last four and they might find themselves at the summit soon.

Julen Lopetegui’s side could potentially mount a title challenge this season, and so far they’ve been doing it through their brilliance on both sides of the pitch.

Los Palanganas are the real deal since they boast the best backline in the league with only seven goals conceded, and they have the second-best attacking unit with 19 goals thus far.

Erik Lamela has been a solid summer acquisition as the former Spurs winger leads the team with four goals and one assist, while Rafa Mir, Youssef En-Nesyri, and Lucas Ocampos have their share of La Liga 2021 highlights.

Fortunately for Sevilla, they only have a few injury woes despite their grueling schedule. Alejandro Gomez and captain Jesus Navas are the only ones who are unavailable this weekend.

History

The El Gran Derbi has been a huge staple in Spanish top-flight football since the early 1900s. Real Betis and Sevilla faced off for the first time in October 1915 where the latter won with a scoreline of 4-3.

Overall, Real Betis and Sevilla have faced off in 134 games in all competitions to which the latter owns the distinct advantage in the head-to-heads.

Los Palanganas have won 63 times compared to Los Verdiblancos’ 39, and they’ve shared 32 draws between them.

Their last meeting took place in March where it ended in a narrow 1-0 win for Sevilla, courtesy of a 27^th-minute goal from Youssef En-Nesyri.

Real Betis are winless in their last five La Liga games vs. Sevilla (D1, L4). Their previous victory against their derby rivals dates back to 2018.

Betting Tip

	Real Betis vs Sevilla	Sevilla Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 1.83
	November 8, 04:00 (GMT+8)

As mentioned, the La Liga 2021 odds aren’t necessarily favouring one team over the other this Sunday.

Sevilla are the slightly favoured side since they’re priced at 2.56, while Real Betis are at 2.77 and a draw is installed at 3.15 in the 1X2 market.

Sevilla are looking like the better team at the moment given their stronger recent form and we see them just having enough to win this game – albeit via a small margin.