So we have a two-sided conundrum, if there is such a thing. A club that can do well in Europe, but which only does modestly in its domestic competitions. Unfortunately, we are playing them in the Champions League.
To resolve all this we can in fact look at Sevilla in a little more detail – and seeing the whole Spanish league table we can see that this is not very impressive. They are a La Liga team, but… they are 16 points behind the leaders with a game in hand. That puts them around the level of Everton.
| H | O | M | E | A | W | A | Y | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +14 | 25 |
| 2 | Girona | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +11 | 25 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 8 | +12 | 24 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +15 | 22 |
| 5 | Real Sociedad | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | +6 | 18 |
| 6 | Athletic Bilbao | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | +6 | 17 |
| 7 | R Vallecano | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | -1 | 16 |
| 8 | Real Betis | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 13 | -2 | 14 |
| 9 | Osasuna | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | -3 | 13 |
| 10 | Valencia | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 11 |
| 11 | Getafe | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | -3 | 11 |
| 12 | Las Palmas | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -3 | 11 |
| 13 | Sevilla | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +1 | 9 |
However, for a better view of things we can also do a “last six games” table for Sevilla and compare it with Arsenal’s last six results – which we do often find very informative in predicting Premier League games.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Girona | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 15 |
| 8 | Sevilla | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 9 |
| 1 | Tottenham | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 16 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 14 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 5 | +13 | 13 |
I think this is the first time we’ve compared the last-six form of clubs from across two leagues, so I’ve included the top club from Spain and Sevilla in eighth, and the top three from the Premier League.
Without going into so much detail we can also create a table for Sevilla at home in the league and Arsenal away in the league.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Sevilla home | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 8 | 1.33 |
| 5 | Arsenal away | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 11 | 2.20 |
Arsenal as we can see have a better record over the last five (having only played five away games this season) than Sevilla have at home from six games. To balance that up I’ve added the points per game figure in the final column. Data from The Fishy.
So, Arsenal away, tomorrow, is not looking too tough a prospect.
The win saw Manchester United leaped to the 8th position on the Premier League table with 15 points to continue their rise from the ashes of an underwhelming start to the season.
“Arsenals win over Man City was ‘scratchy’ at best” The Sun