Atletico Madrid are all set to host Sevilla at the Civitas Metropolitano as they look to strengthen their case for a top-four finish.
Sevilla will travel to the Civitas Metropolitano to lock horns with fourth-placed Atletico Madrid on Saturday. It has been a disappointing season for the Nervionenses. They are fighting for survival and will look to claim all three points in their upcoming fixture. Meanwhile, Diego Simeone will look to strengthen his position in the top four.
The Colchoneros are currently fourth in La Liga. They have managed to accumulate 42 points in their 23 outings. It has been a decent season for Simeone’s men, and they would want to end it on a high with a flurry of positive results in the last phase.
The title looks beyond their reach, as they are 17 points behind the league leaders. However, they do have a task at their hands of finishing in the top four which won’t be that easy. They are only two points ahead of Real Betis who are in fifth. Any slip-up could see them miss out on UEFA Champions League football. As a result, they will be eager to get the job done when they face Sevilla.
Diego Simeone’s team are unbeaten in their last five league matches and will look to add to it. They have three wins and two draws in those fixtures. However, they are heading into this match on the back of a 1-1 draw against city rivals Real Madrid. Despite being a man down, they took the lead but could not hold onto it.
Sevilla, on the other hand, have had a tough time of late. They are currently 14th in the league with just 25 points out of their 23 matches. The Andalusian giants have only managed to win six games so far this season.
They have had a mixed bag of results in their last five league outings. The Nervionenses have two wins, two defeats and a draw in those matches. They are just two points clear of 18th-placed Valencia and a defeat could make life difficult for them.
They are heading into this fixture on the back of a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Osasuna. Despite having the majority of the ball and more shots on target, they failed to get the job done. Jorge Sampaoli will have to make sure his team have a better outing against Atletico on Saturday or else they might be at the receiving end of another hammering.
Sevilla have finished in a Champions League spot for the last three seasons. But, that looks unlikely this time around. Their primary focus will be to survive in the league. Meanwhile, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at this fixture and tries to analyse the tactics they could deploy.
Team News & Tactics
Atletico Madrid
Diego Simeone will be without the services of Sergio Reguilon, Rodrigo De Paul, Reinildo Mandava, and Thomas Lemar who are out injured.
Angel Correa will also miss the fixture after he was shown a straight red against Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Nahuel Molina is also suspended for the Sevilla fixture. However, they could have a big boost as Geoffrey Kondogbia is likely to return for this fixture.
🎙 Simeone
❝Sevilla is a strong team, competitive and they will do their best until the end❞. pic.twitter.com/mtTFpLj1Ru
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) March 3, 2023
The Argentine manager will once again go ahead with the 4-4-2 formation, with Jan Oblak in goal. Matt Doherty is likely to start as the right-back in the absence of Molina. Mario Hermoso is expected to be the other full-back.
Stefan Savic will pair up with Jose María Gimenez in the centre of defence. Marcos Llorente and Yannick Carrasco will start out wide in the midfield four while Koke and Pablo Barrios will play as the central midfielders. Antoine Griezmann could pair up with Alvaro Morata as the two forwards for Simeone.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Oblak; Doherty, Gimenez, Savic, Hermoso; Llorente, Koke, Barrios, Carrasco; Griezmann, Morata
Sevilla
Jorge Sampaoli has quite a few injuries and suspensions to deal with heading into this away fixture. He will be without the services of Loic Bade, Karim Rekik, Papu Gomez, Marcao and Jesus Manuel Corona due to injury.
Meanwhile, Fernando is suspended because of his straight red card in their last outing. However, Sevilla will have a boost, as Alex Telles and Marcos Acuna have returned from injury and are a part of the squad for this fixture.
The 21-man 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃 for #AtletiSevillaFC 💪
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) March 3, 2023
The Sevilla manager could start with the 3-4-3 formation for the Atletico fixture. Moroccan star Yassine Bounou will be in the goal. The back three will be made up of Nemanja Gudelj, Tanguy Nianzou, and Telles.
Acuna and Jesus Navas will play out wide in the middle of the park. The duo will have a lot of defensive work to do and are likely to be the wing-backs for Sampaoli’s team. Ivan Rakitic will pair up with loanee Pape Gueye in the centre of the park.
Oliver Torres and Erik Lamela will play on the wings. They will look to cut inside and combine with the frontman Youssef En-Nesyri who has been on fire in the ongoing campaign having scored 11 times in all competitions.
Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Bounou; Nianzou, Gudelj, Telles; Navas, Rakitic, Gueye, Acuna; Lamela, En-Nesyri, Torres
Key Stats
- Atletico Madrid are on a 13-match unbeaten run at home against Sevilla. They last lost to the visitors back in 2008.
- In over two decades, this has been Sevilla’s poorest performance after 23 matches. They have only won 6 fixtures so far.
- Atletico Madrid have not been dominant at home, they have won just five out of their 11 home games.
- Sevilla have finished fourth in each of their last three La Liga campaigns and have not finished below tenth in more than two decades. Currently, they are 14th on the points table.
- Diego Simeone’s team are on a seven-match unbeaten run in the league.
Player to Watch
Antoine Griezmann
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Diego Simeone will once again depend on his star man Antoine Griezmann to produce the goods. The French international striker has been in red-hot form in the ongoing season.
Griezmann has 15 goal contributions in his 23 league outings. The 31-year-old forward has seven assists to his name. He is top of the charts with the most assists in La Liga. His goal tally isn’t bad either with the France international finding the back of the net on eight occasions.
Prediction
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Sevilla
Atletico Madrid have been unbeaten in their last five league outings. They had an impressive performance against Real Madrid last time, despite being reduced to ten men. Diego Simeone will be confident of his team’s chances heading into this fixture against Sevilla.
The visitors, on the other hand, have been struggling of late. They dominated Osasuna but still could not get the desired result. And their 3-2 defeat pretty much summed up their entire season. The contrasting form of both sides suggests that Simeone’s side is likely to have the upper hand here. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for the home team.
