Sevilla vs Zalgiris Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This is another thoroughly winnable Europa League qualifier for Sevilla. They will be firmly expected to sweep aside Zalgiris of Lithuania on Thursday night, in what is expected to be sweltering heat in excess of 30°C even at kick-off time, which could make the visitors’ task only more challenging.

Sigma Olomouc or Kairat await the winners so it hasn’t been the most challenging of paths for Sevilla but they will be hopeful of avoiding a long trip to Kazakhstan, given they have a busy schedule right now which includes a trip to Morocco for the Spanish Super Cup this weekend.

They have to beat Zalgiris first of course but they made easy work of Ujpest in the last round. 4-0 and 3-1 wins ensured a convincing aggregate victory in their first competitive fixtures of the new season and if anything they should be even sharper here against a team of comparable ability levels to the Hungarians. It has already been a good week for Sevilla who have re-signed Aleix Vidal from Barcelona and he should be a really good fit for Pablo Machin’s preferred system, which utilises attack-minded wing-backs.

As for Zalgiris, they’ve had to come through two ties and work pretty hard to reach this stage. They beat KI of the Faroes 3-2 on aggregate before a 2-1 win against Vaduz of Liechtenstein. It’s already their best European run since the 2013-14 season when they made the play-off round but it is one that is likely to end here.

The fact they had to work so hard just to beat opposition from tiny European nations suggests they will fall well short against a strong team from one of the strongest leagues in the world. They are currently 11 points behind the leaders in their own domestic league and that represents some decline, given they won the title in every season between 2013 and 2016.

In summary, there is little about them that suggests they will be able to hold Sevilla off. The Spaniards will want to record a big win so they can rest players in next week’s 2nd Leg which comes just three days before their opening game in La Liga. Sevilla have won 5 of their last 6 in all competitions and the ease with which they won in the last round suggests backing Sevilla -3.0 Asian Handicap could be worth considering here.

Read our Asian Handicap Betting Guide for more on this market.