Barcelona manager Hansi Flick don insist say him no dey pay plenty attention to di upcoming Madrid derby, despite di potential implications di result fit get for La Liga title race. Di German coach determined to keep focus internal as him side look to maintain dia impressive early-season momentum.
Barcelona don win eight of dia last nine meetings with Sevilla, and dem score 14 goals across dia last three victories over los Nervionenses. But Sevilla beat Barça 4-1 for Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán last October, and dem don defeat Barça there three times since 2019.
Barcelona flawless start to di season no dey show sign say e go slow down. On Wednesday night, Hansi Flick side crush Racing Santander 7-2 for Camp Nou. Raphinha bag hat-trick and João Cancelo score twice, while Lamine Yamal and Gabriel Jesus also enter scoresheet.
Dis mean say di Blaugrana don win seven matches out of seven to start di season, scoring 33 goals, meaning dem dey on target every 19 minutes on average. Barça na di only team for La Liga wey get perfect record.
With Atlético and Real meeting for Madrid derby on Sunday, at least one, or maybe both, go drop points for Metropolitano. So di champions fit increase dia advantage at top if dem win again on Saturday night, and di way dis team dey play, e be like di most likely outcome.
But Sevilla believe say upset possible. Los Nervionenses start di match fifth for table, and dem dey on up, after dem finish no higher than 12th for di last four seasons. Luis García Plaza team come into dis one after back-to-back wins, most-recently defeating Deportivo A Coruña on Wednesday, with Miguel Sierra na di only scorer for Riazor.
Los Hispalenses don win four out of six for La Liga so far, dia only defeat come against Atlético Madrid last month. Sevilla back-to-back clean sheets go face serious test on Saturday night, so can los Rojiblancos stop Barça from banging in goals again?
Rubén Vargas and Lucas Stassin dey injured, while Arouna Sangante still suspended, following him red card for RCDE Stadium. Goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos don make 15 saves for La Liga dis season so far, and dat tally likely to increase here, while Scottish striker Robbie Ure dey find him first goal for di club.
Hansi Flick go pretty strong against Racing Santander on Wednesday, so e go dey interesting to see how many changes him go make here. Xavi Espart likely to displace João Cancelo for left-back, with Pau Cubarsí returning for centre-back. Meanwhile, di impressive performances of Dani Olmo and Karim Adeyemi fit keep Fermín López and Anthony Gordon for reserve.
Di main question mark come for goal. Joan García dey doubt, after him pick innocuous injury for mid-week. Interestingly, despite di arrival of Dominik Livaković, na Wojciech Szczęsny come off di bench to deputise. Di 36 year old make major error to gift Racing a goal, so given say García no good to go, will Szczęsny keep him place, or will di Croatian debut?
