Standard Liege vs Sevilla Predictions

Sevilla have to be viewed as one of the favourites to win the UEFA Europa League given their incredible record in the competition and nothing we’ve seen so far this season suggests that they are anything but strong contenders. They still have work to do to secure qualification though and a point here would effectively seal their progress against 3rd placed Standard Liege.

This is a massive game for the Belgians, who are currently in 3rd place but only 3 points behind both Sevilla and Krasnodar. They were hammered 5-1 in the reverse fixture by Sevilla but will fancy with a home crowd behind them, they can be much more competitive here. Standard come into this game following back-to-back wins but they are still only 6th in the Belgian top flight.

They are up against the new leaders of Spain’s La Liga. Sevilla edged out Real Valladolid 1-0 on Sunday to take advantage on a weekend when none of the ‘big three’ won. Increasingly they are starting to look like possible contenders in a strange season in the Spanish top flight and Pablo Machin may have a real balancing act to do as he attempts to find the right formula to maintain a challenge on multiple fronts.

We may well see some rotation from Sevilla here who have a testing trip to high-flying Alaves in the league just 3 days later. That should see the likes of Franco Vazquez and Gabriel Mercado rotate in and while they have a decent-sized squad, there were certainly a few signs of tiredness at the weekend, understandable given the sheer volume of games they’ve played in a season that started in the qualifying rounds back in July.

They’ve not been as impressive away as at home either. Indeed only 1 of their last 5 away games in all competitions have produced victories and that was against pointless Akhisarspor in this group.

Standard Liege will offer a much sterner test and their recent home record in Europe is good. They are unbeaten in 7 Europa League home games and that includes games against the likes of Ajax and Celta Vigo, recent finalists and semi-finalists respectively.

With back-to-back wins under their belts heading into this, going for Standard Liege Double Chance appeals here against a Sevilla side who were below-par at the weekend and may rest key men in this one with some key league games coming up.