• Competition: La Liga
• Date: Friday, 20th September, 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CEST
• Venue: Estadio Mendizorrotza (Vitoria-Gasteiz)

After returning to La Liga in the 2022/23 season, Alaves had an excellent following year. They finished 10th with 46 points, which was 13 points away from the danger zone. Since their only goal was to secure survival, we can definitely agree they fulfilled their goal. This year, their goal remains the same - "only" to secure survival. For now, the Basque team is doing well, winning seven points in the first five rounds and sitting in 7th place.

Sevilla had two terrible seasons in La Liga behind them, as they finished 11th and 13th. In the 2022/23 season, they won the Europa League title, so everyone gave them a pass on that one. Still, the last season was a pure disaster, at least by their standards. This year, the Andalusian team continued with poor performances, winning just five points in five rounds, which is worse even than last year's average. Even though everyone expects them to start playing better, we do not like what we saw from them at the start of this season. Judging what we have seen from them so far, we wouldn't be surprised if they would finish around the middle of the table once again.

Alaves vs Sevilla pick: Alaves to win

Alaves were solid this season, but they impressed the most at home, where they drew 0:0 against Real Betis and won 2:0 against Las Palmas. They were an excellent home team last season as well, winning nine of 19 rounds - almost a 50% win rate. Alaves were the 7th best home team last year, and they continued with great home performances this year.

Sevilla managed to break their four-game winless streak after beating Getafe 1:0 in the last round at home. However, Getafe had their chances, and we weren't really impressed by Sevilla's performance despite winning all three points. Also, Sevilla had problems with efficiency in recent matches, as they only scored once in the last three games, so scoring against Alaves, which kept their net intact in the first two home games, will definitely be a challenge.

Last season, Alaves won both h2h games against Sevilla - 4:3 and 3:2. While we expect a close match, considering all the above, we believe that the hosts are closer to winning the upcoming La Liga tie.