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Real Madrid vs Sevilla Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups

Real Madrid will be looking to maintain a 100% start to their La Liga title defence when they meet Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night.

Carlo Ancelotti’s unstoppable side refused to rest on their laurels following a 3-1 thumping of Barcelona in last weekend’s El Clasico as they thrashed rock-bottom Elche 3-0 in midweek La Liga action. 

Newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema was on the scoresheet, alongside Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio, in a match highlighted by recurring VAR interventions. 

Madrid swept Elche aside despite having three goals disallowed after VAR interventions, but more importantly, they have kept their second clean sheet in three league games. 

All pieces are falling into place for the reigning La Liga champions, who have won nine of their opening ten league outings, barring a 1-1 home draw with Osasuna earlier in October. 

Even defensive resilience, which was lacking in the first seven league rounds, has recently been rediscovered, promising a long evening for Sevilla’s uneventful frontline. 

Bono’s heroic save to deny Javi Gaya’s penalty deep into the stoppage time handed Los Rojiblancos a hard-earned 1-1 home draw with Valencia in midweek, leaving them only two points clear of the drop zone.

It’s been a while since the Andalusian giants last had a worse La Liga start, and it comes as no surprise the club sacked long-serving manager Julen Lopetegui at the beginning of October.

New boss Jorge Sampaoli has gone unbeaten in his first three league matches in charge of Sevilla (W1, D2), a side he led to a fourth-place finish in 2016/17 before taking over the managerial reins at Argentina. 

Match Preview

Real Madrid

Thibaut Courtois’ expected return between the sticks following a month-long hiatus due to injury will reinforce Madrid’s bid to extend an unbeaten home H2H record that stretches back to December 2008 (W14, D1).

Even if the Belgian goalkeeper fails to recover in time, Los Merengues can still draw enthusiasm from a stellar run of five wins from six competitive home fixtures this season (D1). 

But Ancelotti would undoubtedly want his first-choice shot-stopper back after seeing his porous backline register just one shutout across those six matches. 

Sevilla

Courtois or no Courtois, Sevilla cannot find their way to the opposition goal consistently this season, especially when playing outside the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Except for a 3-2 victory at Espanyol in early September, Sampaoli’s men have bagged one goal or fewer across their six remaining road trips across all competitions in 2022/23.

Despite Sevilla’s meagre average of one goal per match across their three competitive travels under Sampaoli, they avoided defeat on each occasion (W1, D2), which could fill them with confidence. 

Real Madrid vs Sevilla Potential Line-ups

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni, Toni Kroos; Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior. 

Sevilla (4-5-1): Bono; Jesus Navas, Gonzalo Montiel, Tanguy Nianzou, Alex Telles; Alejandro Papu Gomez, Nemanja Gudelj, Isco Alarcon, Thomas Delaney, Oliver Torres; Erik Lamela. 

How to Watch?

Madrid vs Sevilla, alongside all other Los Blancos’ fixtures, is available to watch online via live Real Madrid streaming

Real Madrid vs Sevilla Prediction

Despite Sevilla’s mini-revival under Sampaoli, it’s almost impossible to back their upturn in form to continue against a rampant Madrid side, especially in the capital.

We expect Benzema & Co to put a couple of goals past Bono and perhaps register their first home clean sheet in the 2022/23 La Liga season.

Real Madrid 2-0 Sevilla

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