Looking ahead to...
Sevilla FC-Real Betis on MD13 of LaLiga EA Sports, which kicks off at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán at 18:30 CET.
Current standings
Betis currently sit just outside the European places in the league on 20 points and must win to keep apace with Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, we have 11 points with a game in hand on our rivals following the postponement of the Atlético de Madrid match and find ourselves 15th in the table, although many of the teams around us have played two more games.
Opponent's form
Pellegrini's men are undefeated in their last 11 matches in all competitions, last losing in the Europa League against Rangers in Glasgow on 21st September. In that run, they have picked up 7 wins - including 5 in their last 5 outings - and 4 draws.
Last three meetings
Leaving out a pre-season fixture in Guadalajara in the summer - where an En-Nesyri goal sealed the victory - in the last three editions of this fixture at home in LaLiga, we have earned two wins and more recently a goalless draw at the end of last season, just days before our final in Budapest. The previos year, Canales's strike was cancelled out by goals from Rakitic and Munir as we emerged as victors. In 2021/22, En-Nesyri again proved decisive in a 1-0 win behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
Squad
Diego Alonso has called up all 26 available players. Only Nyland has been left out due to injury and Fernando Reges, due to the tragic death of a family member in the last few hours. Pellegrini, meanwhile, is missing both first team goalkeepers, Rui Silva and Claudio Bravo through injury. Sabaly and Bartra will also be absent for the same reason.
Match officials
Jesús Gil Manzano will take charge of the match, his fourth Gran Derbi. Interestingly, none of those previous encounters went in our favour, starting with the recent 0-0 draw at Nervión last May. He was also in charge of the 1-0 win at Heliópolis in 2018/19 and the 3-5 win in 2017/18, Betis' only league triumph at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in the last decade.