Sevilla vs Granada
Spanish La Liga
Date: Friday, 21st April 2017
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (Seville).
Tony Adams got off to a terrible start as Granada coach last weekend, losing 3-0 at home to what was effectively a Celta Vigo reserve team. It doesn’t get any easier here and it’s hard to see this ending in anything other than a convincing home win.
Granada’s youthful side has looked out of their depth at this level for much of the season and this already feels like a lost cause for the former Arsenal and England man. His side are 7 points from safety with only 6 games to play. Given they’ve only taken 1 point from their last 7, they look doomed to their fate.
They have problems at both ends of the pitch. Granada have the 2nd worst goalscoring record in La Liga with just 0.84 goals per game and also the 2nd worst defensive record with 2.13 goals conceded per game. They do have a good recent record against Sevilla but with an average of just 0.25 points per game on the road this term, the worst away record in the league, there’s little realistic hope for them here.
Their 4-1 victory on this ground at the end of last season came when Sevilla where focusing on European commitments. That’s not the case this term and Sampaoli’s men are keen to secure a top four finish and a place in the Champions League again next term. They’ve not been in great form but the last two performances have been better and we saw a return to their exciting attacking best when they beat Depor 4-2 in their most recent home game.
With a 73% home win ratio in La Liga and 1.93 goals scored per home game on average, they are well capable of taking control of this game from the off. They don’t have a really prolific striker but they have many players with a goal in them and one of those has been Pablo Sarabia. The €1million summer signing has proved an absolute bargain, chipping in with 7 league goals from out wide, despite not being a regular starter. Injuries mean he should feature from the off here and backing Sarabia to score anytime looks a decent bet.
Overall Sevilla are far superior in all areas and should dominate this game from the off, so backing Sevilla -2.00 Asian Handicap at 1.83 looks to offer value.
Sevilla vs Granada: Head to head
Interestingly, one of the rare victories for Granada so far in the season came just against Sevilla.
The penultimate-placed team took a 2-1 victory at Nuevo Los Carmenes back in early December last year.
Sevilla are clearly generally a team with the better head to head record as they lead the tie by four wins.
Sevilla vs Granada: Bet Tips
The first betting pick will be Sevilla Over 2.5 team goals and the odds are 1.61 with Bet365.
