Sevilla v Atletico Madrid: Negredo to help cause upset

 

It's Copa del Rey semi-final second leg time as Christian Crowther predicts Sevilla to cause a stir with a strong home showing against Atletico Madrid...

 

Sevilla v Atletico Madrid, Wednesday 21:00, Sky Sports 2, Match Odds: Sevilla 2.5, Atletico Madrid 3.0, The Draw 3.5

 

Just like the Clasico semi-final on the other side of the draw, this tie is delicately poised following a narrow 2-1 victory for Atletico in an incident-heavy first leg at the Vincente Calderon.

 

At times, the contest resembled more of a basketball game than a football match as three separate handball incidents led to three penalties being awarded and three red cards being brandished.

 

Ultimately these incidents defined the eventual outcome as Atletico's Diego Costa twice converted from the spot either side of an Alvaro Negredo penalty.

 

Nevertheless, it's a slight advantage to Diego Simeone's side as they make this trip to the Sanchez Pizjuan, though home advantage for Sevilla and Atletico's questionable away form makes that slenderness all the more apparent.

 

Whereas Unai Emery's Sevilla side have not been up to scratch away from home this season, they've been pretty inspiring in front of their supporters. Los Rojiblancos have won ten of their 15 games at the Pizjuan, including their last four in a row.

 

More impressively still, they've been racking up the goals too, plundering 12 in their last four outings in Sevilla.

 

Equally, after being in such imperious early-season form, Atletico's fantastic season has been slightly derailed of late due to some poor away defeats in La Liga against Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.

 

To Score

 

Sevilla's scorer from the spot in their last game, Negredo, has been in scintillating goalscoring form at the Pizjuan of late. The number nine has scored four in as many home appearances leading up to this encounter, including a brace in the last round of this competition against Zaragoza. Being on penalty duty clearly aids the striker's case for a goal too.

 

Sevilla Total Goals

 

Sevilla have been in free-scoring mode in recent times averaging three goals per game from their last four home outings. Managing to score against both Barcelona and Real Madrid in recent away matches further emphasises the attacking threat which should trouble Atletico.

 

Best Bet: Back Alvaro Negredo to beat Sevilla @ 2.74

Other Recommended Bet: Back Sevilla to score two or more goals @ 2.4

 

Bet HERE

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