Barcelona vs Sevilla Betting Tips

The pair make the long trip out to Georgia having won their respective European finals at the end of last season. Sevilla were the class act in the latter stages of the Europa League, eventually beating Dnipro 3-2 in the final to win the trophy for the 2nd season running. Barcelona meanwhile completed a glorious treble with a 3-1 win over Juventus in Berlin 10 days later.

This marks the beginning of a new era for Barca in the sense that club legend Xavi is no longer at the club but little else has changed at Camp Nou over the summer and they should be able to challenge strongly on all fronts again this season.

Their pre-season preparations have been hampered slightly by the number of players they had involved in Copa America earlier in the summer. The likes of Neymar and Leo Messi didn’t feature in an unsuccessful International Champions Cup campaign which saw them lose to Manchester United, Chelsea and Fiorentina.

However on Sunday the pair returned and both scored as a more familiar looking Barca side cruised to a 3-0 win over Roma in front of a full house at Camp Nou. An ominous warning sign for Sevilla perhaps and we can expect the destructive trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar to all start on Tuesday in the Georgian capital.

Sevilla having finished yet another successful season were faced with the perennial task of trying to hold onto to their best players despite the fact that they will be in the Champions League this season. Their biggest summer departure was that of star striker Carlos Bacca who made the somewhat curious career choice of turning down Champions League football in favour of joining Milan, who only finished in the middle of Serie A last season.

However that helped bulken the club’s coffers to the tune of €30million and most of that money has now been re-invested. Gael Kakuta and Stephen N’Zonzi arrived from the Premier League while Unai Emery will be hoping he can get the best out of Ciro Immobile. The Italian striker has come in on loan after a disappointing first season with Borussia Dortmund.

The Andalusian club have played 7 pre-season friendlies already with mixed results. They drew 1-1 with AEK Athens at the weekend and will make the trip to Georgia from the Greek capital. They are European Super Cup regulars having the won the Europa League 4 times in the last decade. They stunned Barcelona 3-0 in the 2006 Super Cup final but have lost their two most recent ones against Milan in 2007 and Real Madrid last season.

The Catalans meanwhile won the Super Cup in 2009 and 2011 when Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto were their respective opponents. It is hard to look past Barcelona again here. With all their stars back and looking quite sharp this will be a tough task for a Sevilla side that is regrouping after an active summer of comings and goings.

However with players still building up their match fitness it may not be a fully polished vintage Barcelona display that we see. Therefore backing them to win but there to be three or less goals in the game at 11/8 offers excellent value.

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