Sevilla v Real Madrid – Ramon Sánchez Pizjuan Stadium at 19:30 live on Sky Sports 3
Real Madrid haven’t lost a La Liga game since March and are unbeaten in nine on the road. But the table-toppers’ most impressive stats have come under Rafa Benitez – the Champions League winner has led Los Blancos to W7-D3-L0 from their opening 10, smashing a league-high 24 goals and conceding only four.
The capital club escaped with a fortunate 1-0 victory over PSG in midweek and are likely to be without Karim Benzema as well as a few others on Sunday but should be supported to make it 13 wins from their last 15 meetings with Sevilla.
Sevilla, winners over Barcelona on home soil just a month ago, are being dogged by infuriating inconsistency and were ruthlessly exposed by Manchester City in midweek. Should Real follow a similar blueprint, the visitors shouldn’t have a problem picking up maximum points.
As well as City, Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo have left the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with well-earned victories this term and overall Unai Emery’s men have lost exactly half of their 14 fixtures. They won’t be helped by an injury to star striker Kevin Gameiro, either.
Real can be backed at 1.90 to overcome a -0.50 Asian Handicap and that’s a decent starting point but I’m also going to throw in Over 3 Goals at 1.70. Sevilla’s last seven on home soil have featured at least three goals with Los Rojiblancos posting a solitary clean sheet in nine.
The hosts have actually lost six of their last 10 when welcoming Spain’s big-two and their previous 12 against the same opposition have each broken the Over 2.5 Goals barrier – eight featuring four or more goals and seven even producing five or more goals.
Real Madrid’s proud defensive record – 10 clean sheets in 14 games – is likely to come under threat from an attack-minded Sevilla side and with Keylar Navas and Marcelo likely absentees, I’d be surprised if they added another shutout to their tally. After all, PSG scuffed a host of opportunities in midweek.
Looking at Los Blancos’ away days since the start of last season, a whopping 13 of 15 have seen at least three goals when Madrid have conceded with eight of those fixtures producing four or more goals.
Asian Handicap Betting Recommendation: Real Madrid -0.5 at 1.90 & Over 3 goals at 1.70
Prices correct at time of writing.
By @MarkOHaire.
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