Real Madrid v Sevilla: Line-ups, stats and preview
All you need to know about Real Madrid v Sevilla
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Real Madrid v Sevilla preview
Real Madrid welcome Sevilla to the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening in a crunch La Liga clash.
Los Blancos remain four points off leaders and champions Barcelona, and cannot afford slip-ups anymore under Xabi Alonso heading into the winter break.
Madrid’s record in their last five matches highlights their current issues. Two draws, two wins and a loss, not exactly the form of champions.
Their opponents, Sevilla, are struggling a little bit as well. With aims of securing European football next season, they currently sit ninth.
A big win at Madrid could help them bridge the gap to fifth-placed Real Betis, something head coach Matias Almeyda is hoping to achieve.
Speaking in his press conference, he said: “It’s extremely difficult. We’ll see how we can neutralise their world-class attacking prowess. How can I talk about Real Madrid’s situation when they’re in second place? Sometimes it’s all very unfair.
“I’ll always defend a colleague, to the death, because I know what we suffer and what we endure. It doesn’t matter who’s on the bench; the guy playing in the Third Division wants to win too, and it hurts.
“I’m on the side of the coaches, if they’re fair. Xabi is a fair person who’s given a lot to Real Madrid, and he deserves all my respect.”
Red-hot Kylian Mbappe needs just one goal to equal Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of the most scored in a calendar year for Real Madrid with 59, in 2013, something the Sevilla boss is all too aware of: “I hope Mbappe doesn’t break the record against us.
“Real Madrid has the three best players in the world right now, in my opinion: Vinicius, Mbappe, and Bellingham. I don’t know how to stop them.
“We’ll try to block them, knowing they’re those special players, they have inventiveness and artistry. And no matter how much you study them, they’ll always come up with something new.”
Real Madrid v Sevilla team news
Goalkeeper Orjan Nyland and centre-back Marcao are doubts but have joined Sevilla’s squad following injuries.
Wingers Ruben Vargas and Adnan Januzaj (hamstring) and centre-half Tanguy Nianzou have hamstring injuries.
Defender Cesar Azpilicueta has a hip issue and left-back or midfielder Gabriel Suazo has a muscular problem.
Forwards Akor Adams and Chidera Ejuke have joined Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Real Madrid v Sevilla predicted line-ups
Real Madrid: Courtois, Asencio, Rudiger, Huijsen, Garcia, Guler, Tchouameni, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius, Mbappe
Sevilla: Vlachodimos, Carmona, Cardoso, Gudelj, Lopez, Oso, Sow, Agoume, Mendy, Romero, Fernandez
How to watch Madrid v Sevilla: TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Saturday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Disney Plus and the Disney Plus app.
Disney Plus subscriptions start at £5.99 per month, with subscriptions costing between £99.90 and £149.90 per year.
Real Madrid v Sevilla stats
- Madrid are unbeaten in their last 13 meetings with Sevilla, winning 11 of those matches since a 3-0 away defeat in September 2018, including each of the last three
- Los Blancos have won four successive home games in the fixture since a 2-2 draw in May 2021
- Mbappe’s 17 league goals for Madrid this season made the striker the leading marksman in La Liga at the start of Saturday, immediately above Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, who has 11
- The France captain’s 17 goals and four Liga assists mean he has nine more direct Liga goal involvements than the second-most prolific player in that respect, Barca’s Lamine Yamal (who has six goals and seven assists)
- Only Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano (both 4) had conceded fewer goals at home in the top flight than Madrid (5) before Saturday’s games
- Sevilla started the weekend ninth despite having the third-lowest expected goals tally in the division (15.7, above Oviedo and Getafe)
- At that point, only Villarreal (0.15), Barcelona (0.13) and Atletico Madrid (0.12) averaged more goals per shot than them (0.11)
- They had completed (700) and attempted (1,256) the third-most long passes in the division at the start of Saturday
- No team above the bottom five had conceded more goals than Sevilla (24) in this season’s Liga before Saturday’s matches
- Girona’s Vladyslav Vanat (75%) and Viktor Tsyhankov (72.7%), Barcelona’s Roony Bardghji (66.7%) and Sociedad’s Carlos Soler (64.3%) were the only players with a greater shot-on-target percentage than Sevilla’s Alfon (60%, hitting the target with six of his 10 attempts so far and scoring once)
Real Madrid v Sevilla prediction
Real Madrid
Sevilla
This will not be a straighforward match for Real Madrid. Los Blancos are still struggling for consistent form under Xabi Alonso and a loss would pile the pressure on him. Despite that, he should still have enough tools at his disposal to keep Madrid’s title bid running strong.
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