Defending Europa League Champions Sevilla travel to Switzerland to meet Basel in the knock-out round of 16 tie hoping to end their bad run of away form in the 2015/16 campaign.
Basel defeated French outfit Saint-Etienne on away goals after drawing 4-4 on aggregate. They lost the first leg away 3-2, but hold out for 2-1 win back home to guarantee progress to the next round.
Sevilla were drawn in the Champions League group-stage alongside heavy weights Manchester City and Juventus and got to the knockout stages by finishing third in their group. They were drawn against Molde in the round of 32 and won their first leg at home 3-0, but lost the away fixture 1-0, which has been the story of their away form so far this season.
Form Comparison
FC Basel are well poised to win the Swiss Super League this season after staying 14 points ahead of second placed Young Boys. They are in some good form in their league after remaining unbeaten in their last six matches, five of those were wins.
In the Europa League group stages, their record this season after 8 matches is 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. However their home form is an average WDLW.
Sevilla are unbeaten at their home for 15 matches, since the defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League group stage on November 2015. However, Sevilla haven’t won in their last six away matches in all competitions. This is much worse as it comes to European Competitions this seasons as they have lost in all of the 4 away matches this season.
Basel: Team News
The biggest blow of Basel will be absence of their key striker Breel Embolo as the teenage sensation is suspended.
Andraz Sporar, Jean-Paul Boetius and Manuel Akanji are injured, while Birkir Bjarnason and Tomas Vaclik are minor doubts.
Basel: Predicted Line-up vs Sevilla (4-2-3-1)
Vailati – Safari, Samuel, Suchy, Lang – Xhaka, Zuffi – Bjarnason, Delgado, Calla – Janko.
Sevilla: Team News
Nico Pareja is the only confirmed absentee from the Sevilla team for the trip to Basel. While their star midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak is carrying a knock and Unai Emery may not risk him.
Sevilla: Predicted Line-up vs Basel (4-2-3-1)
Soria – Escudero, Carrico, Kolodziejczak, Coke – Iborra, N’Zonzi – Konoplyanka, Banega, Krohn-Dehli– Gameiro.
Basel vs Sevilla: Head-to-Head stats
This will be first time that Basel and Sevilla are playing against each other in a European Competition.
Basel have played against Spanish opponents on 16 occasions in UEFA competitions and their overall record is 2W, 4D, 10L. Their home record is 2W, 2D, 4L from 8 matches.
Sevilla’s only match against a Swiss opponent was in 2006/07 season, where the Spanish team won it by 4-0 at Zurich.
Basel vs Sevilla: Prediction
Basel will be very confident going into this game looking at Sevilla’s poor away form this season, but they must do well to win this one in front of their home crowd.
Unai Emery’s Sevilla will be hoping to hold out Basel for a draw and finish off the tie in their strong hold back in Spain. This will be a cat and mouse affair and Basel look like the most likely candidate to knick a win here.
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