Sevilla vs Manchester United
Wednesday 21st February, Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium
Champions League – Second Round – First Leg
BT Sport – 7:45pm
Sevilla vs Manchester United – Manchester United take a trip to Spain to face Sevilla in the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie.
A routine 2-0 victory against Huddersfield means Manchester United are still competing on three fronts this campaign. Whilst the league title is out of reach, Jose Mourinho’s side could still end up with two pieces of silverware come the end of the season. United have, however, won two and lost two of their last four games, with both defeats coming on the road. United have won once against a top-six side away from home this season, losing to both Chelsea and Tottenham.
A trademark of previous Mourinho title-winning sides was their ability to get results in the biggest games; something he has yet to achieve since moving to Manchester. With four transfer windows now behind him, Mourinho can no longer argue this isn’t his squad. With the amount of money they have spent, they should be doing better in those big games. These are the matches that separate a good team from the best teams and Mourinho must find a way of tipping these games in his side’s favour.
Romelu Lukaku appears to be re-discovering his form from earlier in the season, with six goals from his last eight matches. The main criticism that has been aired at the Belgian striker is his inability to be the difference in the big games. Away from home against top six sides, Lukaku hasn’t scored, which underlines United’s away woes. There is no doubting he is one of the league’s best strikers; it’s shown by his goal tally, but there is an air of ‘flat track bully’ around him.
Sevilla have won their last three games, which has left them sitting in fifth place in La Liga. At home, Los Nervionenses have lost just once but they have only won one of their last four home games. In the Champions League, they are unbeaten at home, after famously drawing 3-3 with Liverpool from 3-0 down earlier in the competition. Wissam Ben Yedder is the club’s top score(6), whilst Luis Muriel is also a threat up front(7). The club bost a number of former Premier League players, with Steven N’Zonzi, Nolito and Jesus Navas all likely to feature.
Clement Turpin is the referee for this game. The French official plies his trade in Ligue 1 and has an average card total of 4.18 this season. This is quite an average score for a referee from this league, so don’t expect masses of booking points on Wednesday.
Whilst this wasn’t the hardest tie United could have had, it certainly isn’t the easiest. There is definitely a Premier League resurgence in Europe and I think Mourinho’s side will go through over two legs. For this one though, I’d say double chance United or draw would be my bet.
Sevilla vs Manchester United will be televised in the UK on BT Sport with kick off at 19:45 GMT.
Prediction: Sevilla 1-2 Manchester United.
Suggested tips – Sevilla vs Mancheser United (BET365):
- Correct score, United to win 2-1 – (link no longer available)
- BTTS and over 2.5 goals – (link no longer available)
Suggested tips – Sevilla vs Manchester United (Skybet):
- Lukaku to score a brace – 10/1.
- Muriel and Sanchez to both score – 8/1.
- Ben Yedder to score and draw – 11/1.
- Double chance, United or draw – 2/5.
RequestABets tips – Sevilla vs Manchester United (Skybet):
- Popular RequestABets – Sanchez to score, 1+ corners each team in each half and 30+ Sevilla booking pts – 14/1
- Pundits RequestABet – Phil Thompson’s RAB: Ben Yedder to score first, Sevilla to win and BTTS – 22/1
- RequestABet 80/1 and above – Draw 2-2 and Navas & Rojo to be carded – 100/1
- RequestABet 11/1 to 28/1 – Lukaku to score and Draw 1-1 – 16/1
- RequestABet 80/1 and above – Lukaku to score a hat trick and Manchester Utd 4-0 – 500/1
- RequestABet 11/1 to 28/1 – Sanchez to score and Draw 2-1 – 16/1
- RequestABet 80/1 and above – Lukaku to score, Sevilla 4-3 and Mercado to be carded – 500/1
- Popular RequestABets – BTTS, 4+ Sevilla Corners, 3+ Manchester United Corners & 30 Match Booking Points – 11/4 (NAP)
Odds and markets last updated on February 21 February 2018 @18:25 GMT.
More markets will be added over the weekend prior to the game kicking off on tonight. Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and previews for the remainder of this weeks fixtures.
