Pre-match reports

A CHANCE TO FINISH OFF 2017 IN STYLE

20/12/2017
The final fixture of 2017 gives Sevilla a chance to show the same fighting spirit we saw against Villarreal and Liverpool. All the records point to goals for the visitors at the Anoeta

Real Sociedad vs Sevilla FC this Wednesday offers more than enough motivations for the visitors to confront their final match of the year as a crucial fixture that could mark the difference in an exciting 2018. The 2017 half of the La Liga season comes to a close with a clear challenge for Sevilla FC - refind winning ways after an away loss and a home draw and score goals in a stadium that has been kind to Sevilla's attackers in recent years. In their last ten visits to the Anoeta, the Nervionenses have scored 17 goals to Sociedad's 16, with one draw and five wins. The most recent victory was eleven long months ago, when Sevilla recorded a 0-4 win to open their 2017 La Liga calendar. Ben Yedder scored a hat-trick that day, with Sarabia adding the other. A repeat performance would do very nicely. 

Belief, courage and commitment are all qualities that need to be shown if Sevilla want to round off their 2017 with a victory

This mid-week fixture could prove to be more make or break, with Berizzo's men striving to recapture momentum and form and to return the top of their game. The impressive and successful side we saw in the second half against Liverpool in Nervión and in another impressive comeback away from home against Villarreal needs to come out fighting in the Anoeta. Belief, courage and commitment are all qualities that need to be shown if Sevilla want to round off their 2017 with a victory.

Should Sevilla fail to score this Wednesday on Basque soil, it will be the first time the Nervionenses have gone three La Liga matches without a goal since April 2007, nearly eleven years ago. 

Sociedad and Sevilla are the only two teams to have a goal difference of zero in the league

Both Berizzo and Eusebio's sides have prided themselves on the ability to always look forwards and to not simply be content with being defensively solid. Real Socidad have been the more effective side in goalscoring; however, with 28 goals scored, they have also conceded 28 - 16 of which have been at home. Sevilla FC have been less lethal going forward (with 19 goals this season), though have been more stable at the back (19 conceded). 

The blue and whites don't come into the game in their best form. In the Anoeta specifically, Sociedad have only won two games: 3-0 against Villarreal and 3-1 against Eibar. They drew 4-4 with Betis, 1-1 with Espanyol and 2-2 with Las Palmas, then lost at home to Madrid (1-3), Valencia (2-3) and Málaga (0-2). Carlos Vela's January departure should provide another incentive for a side that will be itching to improve home form. Nevertheless, Berizzo's Sevilla will come out looking to show exactly what they are made of in a bid to finish of their year in style. Should they show all their fight and desire in the Anoeta, the Nervionenses should do exactly that.