Sevilla vs Villarreal

On Friday night, Sevilla and Villarreal, two teams that drew 2-2 in their initial La Liga games of 2024–25, will square off at Estadio Ramon in an exciting match.

In their first game of the new season at Estadio de la Ceramica, the hosts and Las Palmas shared the points, while their guests held Atletico to a draw.

Last Friday's 2-2 draw against Las Palmas marked the start of Garcia Pimienta's tenure as head coach of Sevilla. Although the visitors had two leads in Gran Canaria, the game ended in a draw with a goal from Sandro Ramirez in the 71st minute, following a 2-1 lead from Juanlu Sanchez just after the hour.

There's plenty of space for growth for Los Nervionenses this season since they ended 14th in La Liga last year, which turned out to be their worst top-flight campaign since being relegated in 2000.

This summer, Sevilla has been active in the transfer market, bringing in seven players, including Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid on loan. In the last third of the field, Kelechi Iheanacho is a noteworthy addition.

The Andalusian team has only triumphed once in their previous five La Liga encounters against Villarreal; nevertheless, the points were split in a 1-1 draw during their meeting last season.

Sevilla's goal for the 2025–26 season is to qualify again for the Champions League, however there are serious doubts about the team's strength in order to contend for a spot in the top four this year.

On Monday night, Villarreal took the lead twice against Atletico. Arnaut Danjuma gave the Yellow Submarines a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute, and Koke's own goal in the 37th minute made it 2-1 after Marcos Llorente had leveled the scores two minutes earlier.

But in the waning moments of the first half, Alexander Sorloth scored against his old team to tie the score at 2-2. The points were shared at Estadio de la Ceramica.

It will have to be said that Villarreal's eighth-place finish in the Spanish top flight last season was disappointing, as it was only the second time since their promotion back to the top level for the 2013–14 campaign that they had finished outside of the top seven.

This summer, the Yellow Submarine have signed seven players. Luiz Junior, a goalkeeper from Famalicao, is the most recent acquisition. Other newcomers include Nicolas Pepe, Ayoze Perez, and Willy Kambwala.

With 26 goals in all competitions during the 2023–24 season, Sorloth is their most notable departure this summer. However, goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen has also left for Chelsea.