La Liga: Points at a Premium For Sevilla and Cadiz

Sevilla FC vs Cadiz

Five games to go in the 2021/22 La Liga season and things are getting hotter at both ends of the table. Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla have a chance to cement their top four place when Cadiz come to town, but the visitors too have a huge incentive.

This gameis a great weekend curtain-raiser as the two sides meet at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Friday night.

The hosts are in third place in the La Liga table, coming into the game on the back of a 3-2 win away to strugglers Levante, while the visitors are in 17^th -a place and a point above the drop zone. Cadiz lost to Athletic Bilbao by the same margin, a result which leaves Sergio’s team in a precarious position.   

The La Liga 2022 betting odds say we’re heading for a home win, but at this time of the season the bottom-end clubs become very dangerous opponents. 

Talking Points

Papu Gomez’s return is vital for Sevilla

Los Blancos are on the way to the 2022 title for sure, so the race for a top four place is where the action lies and there is an eight-point gap between Barcelona in second and Real Sociedad in sixth place. Sevilla, on 63 points alongside the Blaugrana have a six-point cushion to fifth place and one or two more victories might be enough to see them over the line.

The return of attacking midfielder Papu Gomez from injury has come at a good time for Los Sevillistas. During his absence, they scored just twice in four games. And in the three since he returned, Sevilla have bagged eight goals.

A Copa America winner with Argentina in 2021 and with an 89-per cent pass completion in La Liga this term, he is a player who can keep control of the ball in the key areas of the pitch and he links up well with top scorer Rafa Mir, who is on nine goals.

With the influential Lucas Ocampos in good form, Sevilla have a dangerous attack. But the defence has conceded eight goals in the last four games and that is where Lopetegui has his work to do.        

Lucas Perez can fire Cadiz to safety  

A trip to the Camp Nou to face Barcelona last week seemed like a daunting prospect but Cadiz did Sevilla and themselves a huge favour when they inflicted a shock defeat on the Blaugrana.

Sergio’s side took advantage of a lacklustre performance from the Catalans and former Arsenal striker Lucas Perez made them pay with a goal early in the second half.

He could easily have scored in the first 45 minutes but narrowly missed when a glorious chance arrived. The unexpected three points lifted Cadiz up to 16^th but they slipped down a place when they lost last weekend.

Perez scored in that defeat to Bilbao too and he could be the man to fire Cadiz to safety, while another former Premier League star will also pose a threat to the Sevilla defence.

Ex-Manchester City star Alfredo Negredo has six goals this season and he is well-known to Sevilla fans, scoring 70 goals for their club in 139 games leading up to his 2013 move to Manchester. 

With two wins from the last five, Cadiz have given themselves a fighting chance of survival, also beating seventh placed Villarreal, and they will play Sevilla with a battling defence and quick counter attack.

One young player we expect to see in the La Liga 2022 highlights package is 22-year-old centre-back Victor Chust, who has made 23 appearances for Cadiz in this campaign.

A Spain U21 international, he is strong in the air and has a good reading of the game, able to launch counter-attacks with well-placed long passes. A cultural player, Chuck has only been carded twice this season and he won’t be panicked by the Sevilla offence.     

History

Sevilla have won eight, drawn two, and lost one of the 11 meetings with Cadiz in all competitions since 2005, and the top four club won the return match 1-0 as Lucas Ocampos scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half – firing home a cross from Ivan Rakitic.   

Recent form is identical as both sides have won two, drawn three, and lost one of the last six games, but Sevilla’s home record this season of 11 wins, four draws, and a single defeat means this will be one of Cadiz’s toughest tests over the remaining five league games.    

Betting Tip

The pre-match SBOTOP odds of 1.52 on the home win, 3.64 for the draw, and 5.99 for the away win suggests a victory for the hosts, which will further strengthen their top four claims while heaping pressure on Cadiz.

But the visitors will have their chances and a 2-1 home win at odds of 6.95 may not be far from the mark.

 

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