Jorge Sampaoli’s side have exceeded expectations so far this season, winning six and drawing three of their opening 10 fixtures to sit just three points behind table-toppers Real Madrid as the campaign enters its second quarter. Most fans of Spanish football thought it would be difficult for Sampaoli to make an instant impact at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with predecessor Unai Emery possessing very different ideas about how the game should be played, but the Argentine deserves great credit for managing to hit the ground running.
Barcelona, meanwhile, remain in close contention at the summit of the standings, although Luis Enrique will be aware that his team’s level of performance will probably have to improve if they are to retain the title this term. A 1-0 victory over Granada last time out was another example of the Catalans failing to deliver a display which was greater than the sum of their parts, although the fact that they are continuing to pick up points despite not operating anywhere near their maximum must ultimately be interpreted as a positive.
Sevilla will be unable to call upon Samir Nasri, Andres Schetino, Michael Krohn-Dehli, Ivan Lopez Alvarez and Gabriel Mercado, although Benoit Tremoulinas has returned to full training. Nasri, in particular, will be a big loss – the Manchester City loanee has been the Rojiblancos’ standout player since the campaign got under way in August – but Sevilla will hope that Franco Vazquez can take up the creativity responsibility. The fact that Sampaoli has employed a variety of different formations this season means it is difficult to predict the setup that Sevilla will use this weekend, although fielding four defenders against Barca’s forward line would probably be a sensible move.
Barcelona are again likely to be without defensive duo Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique, while Andres Iniesta, Aleix Vidal and Jeremy Mathieu are also unavailable for selection. Luis Enrique has set his side up with three at the back at times this year but will probably opt for a 4-3-3 this weekend, with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez making up the front three and Andre Gomes and Rafinha battling for the remaining midfield spot alongside Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic. Samuel Umtiti and Javier Mascherano will resume their partnership in the heart of the backline, meanwhile.
The most likely outcome on Sunday is Sevilla and Barcelona to draw with both sides getting on the scoresheet. It will be particularly interesting to see how the hosts approach the match: Sampaoli likes to see his team play on the front foot and take the initiative, but the former Chile boss may be tempted to devise a game plan based more on the counter-attack given that Barca tend to dominate possession in every contest they partake in. All in all, though, this is likely to be an extremely entertaining and watchable affair, with a 2-2 stalemate a wager that could be worth exploring.
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