Preview: Sevilla vs. Athletic Bilbao - prediction, team news, lineups

Los Nervionenses sacked their Basque coach after a 4-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday, while the visitors continued their red-hot form with a 4-0 win over Almeria last weekend.

Match preview

The writing has been on the wall for most of the current campaign for Julen Lopetegui, as the former Spain head coach was relieved of his duties after a fourth consecutive home defeat, this time to German side Borussia Dortmund.

It is the first time that Sevilla have lost four in a row in front of their own fans for 20 years, conceding 13 and scoring just once in that miserable run.

The dismissal brings three years in charge to an end for Lopetegui, who led the side to three consecutive top-four finishes in LaLiga, as well as the club's record-extending sixth Europa League trophy.

Many have quite rightly pointed to the Andalusian side's poor recruitment in the summer transfer window, as they failed to cover for the departures of Diego Carlos and Jules Kounde with adequate, short-term replacements, bringing in the inexperienced Tanguy Nianzou, and the injured Marcao.

Nonetheless, while the coach was certainly not helped by uncharacteristically poor squad management from the board, the results make it difficult to argue with his sacking, after last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid leaves them just one point above the relegation zone.

With just one competitive victory so far this season, a 3-2 win away at Espanyol, the club desperately need to snap their abysmal home record this weekend, with upcoming trips to Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Manchester City not looking too appetising in their current form.

By contrast, high-flying Athletic Bilbao could not be much happier with their man in the dugout, as Ernesto Valverde continues to unleash the attacking force of his new side.

With another 4-0 victory over Almeria last weekend, Los Leones have now scored 16 goals after just seven games this season, the most that they have scored at this stage of a LaLiga campaign for 63 years.

Having recorded five wins in their last six, including similarly emphatic 4-0 and 4-1 away wins at Cadiz and Elche respectively, only Barcelona and Real Madrid can match the Basque side for form at the moment, led by their brilliant brothers, Inaki Williams and Nico Williams up front.

The pair assisted each other for goals on the weekend, before Oihan Sancet and a Mikel Vesga penalty added the gloss to another dominant display.

Athletic's last away defeat actually came at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, however, with the home side coming out on top in this fixture in nine of the previous 13 LaLiga meetings.

If Valverde's side are to lead a legitimate European push, they will need to be ruthless against struggling competition, and they could not be travelling to Sevilla in more uncertain times.

Sevilla La Liga form:

D

L

L

W

D

L

Sevilla form (all competitions):

L

W

D

D

L

L

Athletic Bilbao La Liga form:

W

W

L

W

W

W

Team News

While the home side have no fresh injury concerns from their Dortmund defeat, their long-term absentees look no closer to making their returns, with centre-back Marcao still unavailable after his move from Galatasaray, and Jesus Corona still nursing a serious ligament injury.

Karim Rekik hobbled off last weekend against Atletico Madrid, and will almost certainly be replaced by Alex Telles at left-back, while Oliver Torres looks as if he will miss out once again.

Youssef En-Nesyri scored his first competitive goal since May in midweek, and took nine of Sevilla's 20 shots on the night, so should retain his place at the top of the team after a lively performance.

For the visitors, key centre-back Daniel Vivian suffered a sprain to his left ankle earlier last month, and remains a doubt for this fixture, while adventurous full-back Yuri Berchiche remains sidelined with a heel injury.

Talented forward Oihan Sancet has been converted into a deep-lying midfielder by Valverde, and looks set to continue in that role behind the Athletic's flying front four.

Sevilla possible starting lineup:

Bounou; Acuna, Salas, Gudelj, Carmona; Jordan, Rakitic; Gomez, Isco, Lamela; En-Nesyri

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Simon; Lekue, Martinez, Alvarez, De Marcos; Garcia, Sancet; Berenguer, Muniain, N Williams; I Williams

We say: Sevilla 1-3 Athletic Bilbao

A difficult game to predict, given the elements of underperformance in a talented Sevilla side, but we are siding with the form books here, and forecasting a fifth-straight home defeat for the Andalusian side.

One of the hottest attacks in the division against one of the shakiest defences, we think Valverde's men should be able to outgun their struggling hosts.

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