After a gut-punch in France, Kev’s taking us to northern Spain, and he’s backing Sevilla to pick up at least a point.
Visitors can avoid defeat
Athletic Club v Sevilla
Saturday 11 November, 20:00
Live on LaLigaTV
We’ll need to go and see the dentist, because Ligue 1 delivered the biggest of kicks in the teeth last night. Our boys Lens were 2-0 up inside 14 minutes at Nantes, and somehow contrived to lose the game 3-2, conceding the winner in the 90th minute. To put into context how unlikely that chain of events was, it’s the first time Nantes have come back from two goals down to win a Ligue 1 match since 2005.
We’ll head to the Basque Country now, because Marcelino’s gritty and hard-working Athletic Club are preparing to face a Sevilla side that has just crashed out of the Champions League.
While Sevilla will be incredibly disappointed to have failed to emerge from a winnable UCL group, they are still having a strong season under Julen Lopetegui, and they’ll be one of the contenders to once again win the Europa League. In La Liga, they have only lost twice, going down at Real Madrid (a game they should never have lost) and Granada.
Athletic Club haven’t won any of their last seven La Liga games, but they have drawn five of those. The demanding Marcelino is shaping the side, but he needs to start putting more points on the board. At San Mames, Athletic Club have only won three of their last 10 La Liga matches.
Sevilla need a reaction here, and I suspect their price has been inflated because of absentees. Ivan Rakitic is suspended, while Jesus Navas, Youssef El-Nesyri, Suso and Erik Lamela are all out. That said, Sevilla can still field a competitive side, including the in-form Lucas Ocampos. I’ll back Sevilla +0 & +0.5 on the Asian Handicap at 1.9210/11 – a draw gives us a half-win, and an away win gives us a full payout.
Source: Betfair Spanish La Liga
