One of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures in the La Liga calendar will take place on Saturday afternoon as Real Betis welcome Sevilla to Estadio Benito Villamarin for the Seville derby.
Betis have picked up 19 points from their 16 matches this season to occupy 10th spot in the table, while Sevilla's recent impressive run has seen them rise into fourth position.
Match preview
No team in Spain's top flight has lost more matches than Betis this season, with Manuel Pellegrini's side suffering nine defeats in their 16 games; six victories and one draw has seen them collect 19 points, though, which is enough for 10th position in the table as it stands.
Consistency has been a serious problem for Betis during the 2020-21 campaign, and they will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 4-3 defeat at Levante.
Los Verdiblancos have picked up four points from their last two home league matches, though, sharing the points with Villarreal on December 13 before recording a 1-0 win over Cadiz 10 days later.
Having finished a disappointing 15th last season, the Seville outfit will certainly be looking for an improvement in 2020-21, but it is difficult to imagine them claiming a top-half finish due to their unpredictability, which has already seen them concede 30 times in 16 matches - the worst defensive record in La Liga.
Sevilla, though, appear to be firmly heading in the right direction once again, having returned to the top four on Tuesday night courtesy of a 2-0 win over Villarreal.
Lucas Ocampos and Youssef En-Nesyri scored the goals against the Yellow Submarine, and Julen Lopetegui's side have now been victorious in three of their last four league fixtures.
The Europa League holders lost three straight matches between October 17 and October 31 but have only suffered one defeat since and will be looking to move into third spot in the table this weekend.
As it stands, Sevilla are level on points with third-placed Real Sociedad and seven points behind second-placed Real Madrid, but they have two games in hand on both of the sides directly above them.
Los Nervionenses have actually won their last three league games against Betis, including a 2-1 victory in the corresponding game last term, but Betis have triumphed in two of their last six encounters.
Real Betis La Liga form: LWDLWL
Real Betis form (all competitions): WDWLWL
Sevilla La Liga form: WLWDWW
Sevilla form (all competitions): WWWDWW
Team News
Betis are currently one of the worst-hit teams in the league in terms of injuries, with Claudio Bravo, Alex Moreno, Marc Bartra, William Carvalho and Victor Camarasa all on the sidelines.
Cristian Tello joined the injury list on Tuesday, meanwhile, as he picked up a groin problem in the defeat to Levante, which is likely to rule him out of this contest.
Pellegrini is expected to make changes for this weekend's contest, with fit-again Sergio Canales in line to start, while Antonio Sanabria could return through the middle.
As for Sevilla, Tomas Vaclik and Sergio Escudero remain doubts for the Seville derby through injury, while experienced midfielder Fernando will miss out through suspension due to the yellow card that he picked up against Villarreal.
Lopetegui could decide to select largely same XI that started against the Yellow Submarine, meaning that En-Nesyri is likely to keep his spot at the tip of the attack over experienced striker Luuk de Jong.
Munir El Haddadi, Oliver Torres and Oscar Rodriguez are among those pushing for spots in the side, but Nemanja Gudelj could replace the suspended Fernando in the middle of the park.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Joel; Emerson, Mandi, Ruiz, Miranda; Rodriguez, Guardado; Fekir, Canales, Ruibal; Sanabria
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Rakitic, Gudelj, Jordan; Ocampos, En-Nesyri, Suso
We say: Real Betis 1-2 Sevilla
Matches between these two sides are always special regardless of the occasion, and it is shaping up to be another fascinating contest. Betis have the tools to hurt Sevilla in the final third of the field, but the visitors will enter the match in excellent form, and we are predicting a narrow success for Lopetegui's side.
