DEFENDING LIKE THIS, POINTS ARE GUARANTEED

Sevilla FC claimed an important victory last Saturday at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in the league, a match which marked the close of the first round of fixtures in the 22/23 season. With this convincing victory against Elche CF, where Yourself Em-Nesyri scored two and Acuña one, the side have now got 21 points this season. Moreover, various stats show the progression that the team is experiencing under Jorge Sampaoli since the league restarted after the World Cup.

Firstly, the squad has picked up ten out of a possible fifteen points since 30 December, when Kike Salas scored an equaliser for RC Celta in the second half. The only loss came when we travelled to Girona, with a goal in the last few minutes of the game. Apart from this, we have had important home victories against Getafe CF, Cádiz CF and Elche CF in order to improve our position in the league and to make our stadium what is always has been, a very difficult place for visitors to come away with a positive result.      

In the last five games Sevilla FC have conceded 0.8 goals a game, reducing it from 1.6 which it had been for the first fourteen matches 

Likewise, the Argentinian coach's players have brought back another typical Sevilla trait, defensive solidity. They have only conceded four goals in these five matches, which also means that they have kept two clean sheets in a row at home, against Cádiz and Elche respectively, another fact that has come late but which undoubtedly shows the growth of the Sevilla side as a unit. In the fourteen previous matchdays, Sevilla conceded twenty-two goals, an average of 1.6 per game, reducing it in the period since Vigo to 0.8 goals per game, which is a reduction of more than half.

In short, making progress takes time, and Sevilla FC have been working steadily for some time now, acquiring Jorge Sampaoli's concepts, playing as a unit and with something that is extremely important for progress: joy and confidence in everything they do.