Struggling English champions Leicester city travel to Spain to face Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League last sixteen tie. The two teams have never met before as the Foxes are quite an unusual presence in European competitions. They have faced Spanish opposition in their previous European campaigns but got knocked out by Atletico Madrid on both occasions, the UEFA Cup in 1997 and the Cup Winners' Cup back in 1961. Sevilla beat Liverpool 3-1 last season in the Europa League final.
Sevilla had oscillating form lately, they have won their last two league matches but before that they lost at Espanyol and got held to a goalless draw at home by Villarreal. However, they are third in LaLiga and still in with a decent shot of moving up to second as they are just two points behind mighty Barcelona. They have lost just two matches at home all season, against Barcelona and against Juventus in the Champions League. Nico Pareja is an injury doubt, while Benoit Tremoulinas and Michael Krohn-Dehli are long-term absentees.
Leicester City have turned last season's dream campaign into a real nightmare, defending the Premier League title is out of the question while relegation is becoming an increasing threat. The Foxes have not won a match since January 7th, when they pulled off a 2-1 surprise victory at Everton. Last weekend they got beaten 2-0 by Millwall in the FA Cup and they are just one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League. Islam Slimani and Leonardo Ulloa are injury doubts for this match.
Probable line-ups:
Sevilla: Rico - Mariano, Lenglet, Rami, Escudero - Iborra, N'Zonzi - Vazquez, Nasri, Vitolo - Jovetic
Leicester: Schmeichel - Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs - Mahrez, Ndidi, Drinkwater, Albrighton - Slimani, Vardy
My prediction: Sevilla to win 2-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Sevilla win - 1.40
Draw - 5.00
Leicester win - 9.00
02/21/17, 11:02:23 PM
