Athletic Bilbao center back Xabier Etxeita. (Photo : Getty Images)
Sevilla FC (7-6-5, 26 points) will try to put a stop to its inconsistent play so far in the 2015-2016 La Liga season as the team squares off with contending team Athletic Bilbao (8-6-4, 28 points) at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán this Saturday, January 9.
In their last six matches, the Sevillistas have alternated winning and drawing games before eventually losing to lowly squad Granada, 1-2, at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes on Sunday, via ESPN.
Unai Emery's men succumbed to two quick goals from Granada forwards Isaac Success and Adalberto Penaranda in the first 37 minutes of the match to go down early by a couple of points.
Los Rojiblancos' Spanish left winger Vitolo managed to put his team on the board to make it 2-1 right before the halftime break with a right-footed shot from very close range to the top left corner of the net.
Both teams went scoreless in the second half as Sevilla defender Adil Rami received a red card in the 86th to douse their comeback efforts.
Meanwhile, Bilbao settled to a 2-2 draw with lowly Las Palmas at their home stadium in San Siro also on Sunday, as per SkySports.
Los Leones striker Aritz Aduriz opened the scoring at the 17th minute to give Athletic Club a 1-0 lead through most of the game, but an exchange of goals in the final half-hour ended in a tied count to make the teams share a point in the overall standings.
Ernesto Valverde's squad had been undefeated in five of its last six outings to move up to the sixth spot in the current league table.
The predicted result is a close 1-0 victory for Athletic Bilbao.
Sevilla starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Rico; Mariano, Carrico, Kolodziejczak, Escudero; Reyes, Iborra, Krychowiak, Vitolo; Gameiro, Llorente
Athletic Bilbao starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Iraizoz; de Marcos, Etxeita, Gurpegui, Balenziaga; San Jose, Rico; Williams, Garcia, del Moral; Aduriz
