Sevilla welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, in the first leg of their Last 16 tie.
Sevilla qualified for this stage as Group E runners-up, whereas Borussia Dortmund qualified as Group F winners.
Team News
Lucas Ocampos is unlikely to be available for Sevilla as he continues to recover from an ankle injury suffered during their La Liga win over Getafe almost two weeks ago.
Jesus Navas (hip) could return but Marcos Acuna and Oscar Rodriguez (both hamstring) remain ruled out.
Borussia Dortmund could welcome Thomas Meunier back from a knee injury which kept the right-back sidelined in recent weeks.
Lukasz Piszczek (knock) is a doubt but Dan-Axel Zagadou (muscle) is still absent.
Stat Attack
- Sevilla are yet to beat Borussia Dortmund after two previous meetings in UEFA competitions, although this is their first meeting in Champions League (D1, L1).
- Borussia Dortmund clinched a 2-2 draw in their only previous trip to Sevilla in final Group J match of 2010-11 Europa League, which saw the Spanish team advance by just one point.
- Dortmund are winless in their last five away Champions League trips against Spanish opposition (D1, L4).
- Sevilla have conceded eight goals in their last four Champions League matches (W3, L1).
- Dortmund’s Erling Haaland has scored three goals in two away Champions League games this season (W1, L1).
Prediction
With just two defeats in their last 12 home matches across all competitions, Sevilla definitely come into this match in strong form and will certainly be tough for Dortmund to beat given their robust defence and proper threat across midfield and attack.
Dortmund however come into this game in poor form with just one win in their last six matches and just two clean sheets since December, which is a real concern when coming up against dangerous opposition in Sevilla.
Now unless Dortmund can find a way to tighten up then I feel that goals are a certainty, although Sevilla should dominate this game rather comfortably unless Ocampos is absent which seems likely and should consequent mean a closer game than probably expected otherwise.
Prediction: Sevilla 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Result: Sevilla 2-3 Borussia Dortmund
Leave a Reply