This season, the Europa League holders have shown that they are one of the best teams in the Spanish league, with Lopetegui producing a brilliantly-coached team to prove their comparison with the best teams in the world.
Sevilla has already defeated Barcelona in the first leg of the semi-final of Copa del Ray and will go into the second leg of the fixture with a 2-0 lead. The second leg of Copa del Ray is just four days after today’s match.
Sevilla have generally managed to raise their game whenever they host Barcelona. They have won one and drawn two of their last five meetings in all competitions.
Indeed, the Catalans have won just two of their last six league visits to the Sevilla and there should be plenty of interest in opposing them this weekend.
The hosts are in phenomenal form with a six-match winning streak in La Liga out of which they kept five consecutive clean sheets. On the other hand, Barca has managed to score just one goal in their last three games against Sevilla.
Predictions
The condition of Koeman’s team and the form of Lopetegui’s XI suggests a 2-1 win for Sevilla.
Barcelona recently has been having some serious problems in their defence, conceding in eight of their last nine clashes in all competitions – and an in-form Sevilla side will try to take the advantage of these problems this weekend.
Injuries and Expected Line-ups
The hosts are without last-season’s top scorer Lucas Ocampos and first-choice left-back Marcos Acuna, while Barca have injured quartet Philippe Coutinho, Ronald Araujo, Sergi Roberto and Ansu Fati all still unavailable.
Both coaches might choose to rotate their squads given the upcoming Copa Del Rey semi-final on Wednesday
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dest, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembélé, Messi, Griezmann
Sevilla: Bono; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Escudero; Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan; Suso, En-Nesyri, Gomez
Timings and Where to Watch
Date: February 27 (Saturday), 2021
Time: 8:45 PM IST
Venue: Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Seville, Spain.
Where to watch on TV?
TV Listing: La Liga matches are not available on any TV channel in India.
Where to watch on Live stream?
Live Streaming: Facebook Live, Bet365 (Registration required) – International
