Sevilla v Valencia

Sevilla vs Valencia Preview

The second of the two opening games of this new Spanish top flight season features this upcoming tussle between Sevilla and Valencia when the two teams meet at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán with both sides looking for a vast improvement in fortunes on the domestic front this season.

However, despite an ordinary domestic campaign which saw the hosts finish in a very disappointing 11th place in the La Liga standings which represented their worst campaign for over 20 years in the Spanish top flight, they did lift the Europa League trophy after beating Roma on penalties with the Spanish club prevailing 4-1 in the shoot-out.

Jose Mendilibar therefore remains at the helm of Sevilla but he will be under pressure for his side to produce a response to what turned out to be a poor campaign in La Liga last term which culminated in failing to win any of their final four games of last season.

Results on home soil though weren't too bad by comparison as Sevilla lost just three of their last 12 home games, picking up seven wins in the process along with taking four points off their upcoming opponents, Valencia, by way of a 1-1 draw at home and a 2-0 win on the road.

Valencia's campaign last season in La Liga was even worse though, as the visitors finished fifth from bottom and only two points above the relegation zone after managing to capture just four wins from their final 13 league matches of last term.

Victories against Elche, Real Valladolid, Celta Vigo and most impressive of all, Real Madrid, were offset by being handed five defeats during this 13-match period, four of which were dealt to Valencia on their travels.

Defeats on the road at Atletico Madrid, Almeria, Cadiz and Mallorca were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg though where Valencia were concerned as the visitors collected just two wins in their last 15 outings on their travels, a very poor sequence of results that included no fewer than 10 defeats in the process.

In addition, Valencia also failed to score in seven of these last 15 away games which doesn't fill one with much confidence in their chances of picking up a result at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Friday night.

Sevilla v Valencia Verdict

Sevilla have undoubtedly held the upper hand over Valencia in previous exchanges as the hosts are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with their visitors and having picked up six wins during this period, Sevilla look the more likely to grab all three points in Friday's clash to get themselves off and running on the opening night of the new La Liga season.

Therefore, our main bet will be Sevilla win @ 2.05

Other side bets worth considering:

Sevilla win & Under 2.5 goals @ 4.00

Correct score: Sevilla 1-0 @ 6.50