Sevilla v Lazio Betting Tip Sevilla – 20 February 2019

Sevilla v Lazio
Wednesday 20th February 1700hrs 
Football – Europe – Europa League
Pick Sevilla
Bookmaker Matchbook
Odds: 4/5 (odds taken 22.40 GMT, Tuesday 19th February)

Sevilla took a vital lead in the first leg of their last-32 Europa League tie against Lazio last week and will be confident of seeing it out when the teams face each other once again in Spain on Wednesday evening.

Europa League Betting at Marathon Bet

Sevilla Preview

I alluded to Sevilla’s excellent record in this competition down the years and the way in which they approached the match in Rome last week suggests that they are very keen to add to that record. Pablo Machin’s men have not been in the best of form of late but they certainly know how to navigate their way through these two-legged encounters and with the first leg being away it could well have been a tricky evening. Wissam Ben Yedder has been in excellent form all season and it was the young Frenchman’s strike halfway through the first half which proved to be the difference – that was his 18^th goal of the season thus far. The frustration for Machin is that his players were unable to take the confidence and positivity from the win over Lazio into their La Liga game away to Villareal at the weekend. A demoralising 3-0 defeat means that their current placement in fourth spot is under even more pressure with the teams in behind closing in. Should their poor domestic form continue then it may well be qualification for next year’s Champions League is most likely through this competition, instead.

League Cup Betting at Marathon Bet

Lazio Preview

Clearly losing the first leg at home was not ideal for Simeone Inzaghi and his Lazio team but it’s definitely not beyond the Serie A club to travel to Spain and get that away goal they need. There was little between the teams six days ago but the only criticism you could have of Lazio is that having went behind relatively early in the game, they probably never done as much as you would expect from a game team in the ample time they had left to get themselves back level on the evening. One of the reasons for that is that their star striker Ciro Immobile was missing from that game but he looks set to return to the starting eleven for tomorrow’s game and there’s no doubt he will be a big plus. The Italian internationalist is the club’s top scorer and has notched 15 times already in all competitions. He returned to action on Sunday against Genoa but was unable to prevent his team from following to another defeat.

Sevilla v Lazio Betting Preview

Sevilla were favourites to progress before the first leg and they have very much cemented themselves in that position with the precious victory. I noted in my preview of the first leg of how strong the Spaniards are at home in the Europa League and it is really a remarkable record. Sevilla’s last home defeat in this competition came all the way back in 2014 at the hands of their city rivals, Real Betis. They still ended up making it through that tie, however, and have since reeled off 19 games without losing. That’s the task that awaits Lazio on their visit but Inzaghi’s men have some hope in that they scored 14 goals in their last 16 away Europa League games. They need to find at least one goal to level the tie but their defensive record is such (one clean sheet in their last 12 away games in the competition) that they may well require more than just the one goal.

I was of the opinion that Lazio had to come here with some sort of lead for them to make it through and without that they look to have an uphill task ahead of them. Sevilla’s home record in the competition is fantastic and their record at home this season with only two defeats in all competitions. I’m confident they can secure the win on the night to comfortably move into the last 16 of the Europa League yet again.