Sevilla FC vs FC Barcelona – 03/09/2022
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Barcelona will be confident of maintaining their unbeaten start to the 2022/23 La Liga season when they visit off-form Sevilla on Saturday.
Xavi’s side have taken seven points from a possible nine so far. As a result, they sit third in the table – two points behind Real Madrid and Real Betis.
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By contrast, Sevilla find themselves down in fifteenth place – six points behind Barcelona – after picking up a solitary point from their opening three games.
Sevilla suffered a 2-1 defeat to Osasuna on the opening weekend before registering a 1-1 draw against Valladolid on Matchday 2.
Last time out, Sevilla lost 2-1 to newly-promoted Almeria – despite racking up 69% possession and 13 shots.
Sevilla can take confidence from the fact that they have only lost six of their last 41 encounters in La Liga, although they will struggle to claim all three points against Barcelona.
It is also worth noting that Sevilla have managed to win just one of their previous eight league games. Can they turn the corner when Barca come to town?
As for Barcelona, they played out a goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano on Matchday 1 before thrashing Real Sociedad (4-1) and Valladolid (4-0).
Xavi’s men are the second-highest scorers in Spain’s top flight this season, having netted eight goals in three games (2.66 goals per game).
Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace against Sociedad and Valladolid, meaning he has scored four goals in his previous two league outings.
To make matters worse for Sevilla, Barcelona are currently enjoying a 16-game unbeaten streak in away La Liga matches.
Head-to-head: Barcelona have avoided defeat in each of their last 13 league meetings with Sevilla, picking up nine wins and four draws in the process.
When you look at the bigger picture, Sevilla have only managed to win one of their previous 30 La Liga games against Barca.
Team news: Sevilla will be without injured winger Tecatito on Saturday, as he continues to recover from a fractured fibula.
Barcelona also have one absentee at the moment, with new signing Andreas Christensen set to miss Saturday’s clash due to illness.
When you couple the contrasting recent form of these two sides with Sevilla’s woeful record in this fixture, all the signs point towards an away win on Saturday.
Forebet predicts that in-form Barcelona will score over 2.5 goals on their way to dispatching struggling Sevilla.
