Barcelona are aiming to strengthen their grip at the top of the standings as they host Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday. The Catalans appear to be cruising past their opponents these days and should be too strong for Sevilla, who are still far from their best at the moment.
Barcelona briefly opened an eight-point gap at the top of the standings after claiming a 2-1 victory at Real Betis in their midweek La Liga fixture. They found their rhythm after the break with Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski getting their goals.
The Catalans have properly hit their stride now as they seem to always find ways to win even when not at their best. Xavi’s men head into Sunday’s clash with nine wins and a draw in their last 10 La Liga matches.
Camp Nou has also been a fortress all season for Barcelona, who have claimed seven wins and two draws from nine home matches. That run has been driven by a sturdy defence that has only been breached once in front of their fans.
Sevilla have shown some improvement from where they were in the first half of the season as they are slowly easing themselves away from relegation trouble. However, they have not gotten too far as they still remain just two points above the bottom three.
The Andalusians travel to Camp Nou with three wins from their last four La Liga matches. They showed flashes of their old quality last time out, claiming a 3-0 victory over Getafe with Youssef En-Nesyri netting a brace.
While manager Jorge Sampaoli will be pleased with the recent improvement, all their wins have come at home. Sevilla continue to struggle on their travels and are winless in their last four away matches in La Liga.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Barcelona as overwhelming favourites with a home win priced at 1/3 by William Hill. A victory for Sevilla is valued at 9/1 by SBK, who are also offering odds of 9/2 for a draw.
Recent head to head
Barcelona have the upper hand in recent matches against Sevilla, claiming three wins and a draw from the last four meetings. The Catalans also ran out 3-0 winners in the reverse fixture back in September with Lewandowski getting one of the goals.
Players to watch
Robert Lewandowski marked his return from suspension with a goal at Real Betis to take his La Liga tally to 14 goals. The striker was also on target in the reverse fixture and is priced at 4/5 with bet365 to find the net on Sunday.
Youssef En-Nesyri has not been at his best this season but will be hoping to build on his brace last time out. The striker has now found the net three times in his last two matches and is priced at 9/2 with bet365 to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the comfortable win for Barcelona in the reverse fixture, a -1 handicap could be considered on Sunday at evens with Paddy Power. The Catalans could also be tipped to win both halves at 21/10 with Paddy Power.
Barcelona scored in both halves in the reverse fixture and Sunday’s clash could be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 11/10 with bet365.
This La Liga match between Barcelona and Sevilla will be played on Feb 5, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Sevilla prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
