Sevilla vs Sigma Olomouc Predictions

Sevilla look a pretty good bet to go all the way and win the Europa League again this term and there will be few teams that will be keen to get them when the groups are drawn. They still have a bit of work to do in order to reach that stage but it’s hard to see Sigma Olomouc causing an upset this Thursday in the Andalusian capital.

They did compete well last week in the Czech Republic though. Sevilla had previously breezed through the early rounds but found Sigma Olomouc a slightly tougher nut to crack. It took an 84th minute strike from in-form Pablo Sarabia to break the deadlock and hand Sevilla the advantage, which they should have little trouble converting into an aggregate victory.

Sevilla have made a strong start to life under Pablo Machin. They’ve already played 9 matches in all competitions, winning 7 of them and are perhaps more ready than most teams are for the upcoming international break. They’d have been a bit disappointed by their failure to beat Villarreal at the weekend, as they spurned late chances in a 0-0 draw at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan but their principal early season aim would have been to reach the groups in this competition and they are within touching distance of that now.

There is little about Sigma Olomouc which suggested they would have given Sevilla such a tight game last week. They are struggling currently in the Czech League with just 3 points from 6 matches this term, a very poor return. They have saved their best performances for Europe though, impressively seeing off Kairat in the last round, winning both legs against the Kazakh side.

The gulf in class is so big here that it’s hard to see them avoiding defeat in Spain but there are a few reasons why Sevilla might not run riot. For starters Sigma Olomouc will probably adopt similar tactics to last week and will think that while the score remains 0-0, they are still in the tie. Even if they were to concede early, Sevilla are likely to simply look to do a professional job rather than run up a cricket score.

They have a huge derby clash with Betis this Sunday and Machin is likely to rest a number of key players ahead of that. He will also most likely withdraw several more should Sevilla get into a comfortable position and he will be conscious of the need to conserve energy. Temperatures were in excess of 30°C at the weekend as Sevilla took on Villarreal and it did have an effect on slowing the game down.

This match kicks off earlier and similar heat is expected, so we may well see Sevilla adopt a slow, keep-ball approach, certainly once they have a two-goal aggregate cushion. Therefore, backing Sevilla & Under 3.5 Goals could be worth considering, seeing that Sevilla will have a firm eye on this Sunday’s derby date across town with Betis.