Sevilla vs Valencia Odds
| Sevilla Odds | -110 |
| Valencia Odds | +320 |
| Draw | +250 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 +120 / -150 |
Soccer is back in Spain with the start of the La Liga season this weekend, kicking off with a pair of matches on Friday night that includes Sevilla hosting Valencia.
The kings of the Europa League did it again last season as Sevilla won the competition for the seventh time in their history, which is more than any other team.
Meanwhile, the visitors were able to escape relegation by finishing 16th in the league table, but they will likely be near the bottom once again after a summer of selling their best players.
The home side has all of the momentum from the cup run in the last campaign, and I think that carries over to a good start in this fixture.
Sevilla
When manager Jose Luis Mendilibar was hired in the middle of last season, his goal was to keep Sevilla in the Spanish top flight. However, he decided to go and win a European trophy.
Mendilibar guided the club past Manchester United and Juventus in the knockout rounds of the Europa League before defeating Roma on penalties in the final.
The club’s domestic league form also picked under his leadership, losing only three of his 12 La Liga matches to finish comfortably mid-table.
There have been no major changes to the squad over the summer, so we should see Sevilla get off to a better start to the campaign this year.
Valencia
There may not have been many changes at Sevilla, but Valencia have seen some important players leave the team in the transfer window.
In fact, the club’s three top scorers from last season have all departed in Samuel, Justin Kluivert and Edinson Cavani.
Meanwhile, manager Rubén Baraja has been left to try to replace these key players by elevating young talents from the Valencia B team.
For a club that already lacked talent, I don’t have high hopes for Baraja’s side unless reinforcements are brought in before the window closes.
Sevilla vs. Valencia
Betting Pick & Prediction
There can be some shocks on the first matchday of the season, but I can only see a home result in this game.
So, my best bet is straightforward. I’m betting Sevilla on the moneyline at -110, which I would play to -125.
You could see a clear improvement once Mendilibar became manager. However, I can’t say the same thing for Valencia under Baraja.
The struggles were very noticeable away from home, where Baraja’s team lost 6-of-8 on the road after he was hired.
Next, we can’t ignore the huge hole that is missing from the squad after the loss of Samuel, Kluivert and Cavani. The trio combined to either score or assist on 20 of the club’s 40 goals in La Liga last season.
