Sevilla v Barcelona: LaLiga predictions, best bets and odds

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Sevilla are a club on the rise. Several changes in senior management, including the appointment of José Ignacio Navarro as Sporting Director, have already started to pay dividends.

After a series of seasons languishing in the lower half of the table, the Andalusians are now in fourth place with 13 points from a possible 18 thanks to a record of four wins, one draw, and one defeat, which came against Atlético Madrid on matchday three of the new LaLiga campaign.

Before that loss to Diego Simeone's men, Sevilla made it two wins out of two by beating Rayo Vallecano at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (2-1) and Athletic Club in Bilbao (1-3).

Following their only setback, Luis García Plaza's side picked up seven points from a possible nine. They drew 1-1 away at Espanyol, then edged out Valencia on home soil, before beating in-form Deportivo de La Coruña – who are one of this season’s surprise packages following their promotion from LaLiga 2 – in the latest midweek round.

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For now at least, this current Barcelona side looks simply unstoppable. Hansi Flick’s team are on course for something truly historic. It’s not just that they’re winning every match comfortably, but that it’s now unusual if they don’t win by emphatic margins.

It’s become routine to see the Blaugrana score five or more goals in most of their games, as evidenced in the thrashings of Elche (0-5), Rayo Vallecano (5-2), Valencia (0-5) and Feyenoord (5-1), before going even further with a 7-2 victory over Racing Santander on Wednesday night.

Racing endured an onslaught at the Camp Nou, facing 30 shots and 18 corners in total. The Catalans easily absorbed Wojciech Szczęsny's shocking error and an uncharacteristic penalty miss by Lamine Yamal, as they cruised to another huge win. Yamal eventually scored late on and also provided two assists, while Raphinha netted a hat-trick and João Cancelo got in on the act with a brace.

Barça have won all six of their league fixtures as well as their Champions League opener, with no team finding a way to stop the Blaugrana juggernaut so far. 

Sevilla v Barcelona – Predictions (Kick-off 20:00 BST)

Barcelona win with -2.0 Asian handicap: 1/1 (bet365)

Over 3.5 Goals: 4/6 (bet365)

Raphinha to score anytime: 4/6 (bet365)

Odds courtesy of bet365. Correct at the time of publication and subject to change.

The next victims of a Barça thrashing?

One day, Barcelona will slip up. It's an inevitable reality of football that defeat is never a million miles away. 

But, until that happens, it feels like the Blaugrana are going to steamroller most of their opponents, especially in the league. For our first prediction, we’re backing another big Barça win.

And while the stats suggest we could be even bolder than going with a -2.0 Asian handicap, the opponent and venue compel us to be a little more cautious. 

Hansi Flick’s side have been scoring for fun at the start of this season. The margin was five goals against Elche, Valencia and Racing; four against Feyenoord; three against Rayo Vallecano; and two against Levante and Athletic Bilbao.

In the case of the latter two results in that list, a -2.0 Asian handicap bet would have resulted in your stake being refunded, but it's a winner if you were to apply it to any of the other five matches in that sequence. 

Prediction: Barcelona win with -2.0 Asian handicap: 1/1 (bet365)

Explanation: This bet lands if Barcelona win by more than two goals, while your stake is refunded if the visitors win by exactly two goals. 

Goals Galore

For our second prediction, we’re focusing on the overall number of goals.

Barcelona’s scoring stats make this an easy pick, but Sevilla’s good form and the defensive lapses that sometimes creep into the Catalans’ game are further reasons.

In the circumstances, backing there to be more than three goals is a reasonably conservative choice. Only one of Barça’s seven matches this season has produced fewer than three goals, last month's 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao. In their other games, there were 5, 7, 5, 6, 6 and 9 goals in total.

The Blaugrana have only kept a clean sheet in three of those seven matches across all competitions. Those were the 0-5 away wins at Elche and Valencia, and the 2-0 triumph over Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou.

Rayo, Levante and Racing all managed to score twice against Barcelona, which provides further evidence as to why we could see another high-scoring affair on Saturday night.

The fact that Sevilla have also scored in every match so far is another reason to make this selection. 

Prediction: Over 3.5 Goals: 4/6 (bet365)

Explanation: This bet lands if four or more goals are scored in the match, regardless of the final result. 

Back record-breaking Raphinha

Our final prediction focuses on the red-hot form of Raphinha, who has racked up some staggering stats during the season's opening exchanges.

The Brazilian heads to the Sánchez-Pizjuán fresh from a hat-trick against Racing. With those three goals, he’s now scored 11 times in as many appearances.

Flick thought he needed to recruit a top-class number nine, but moving Raphinha into a central striking role turned out to be a much easier solution. 

Only one player in Barcelona's decorated history has scored more goals in the opening seven matches of a season – iconic striker Mariano Martín in 1943. Not even the legendary Lionel Messi, who managed 10 in his best-ever start, can match Raphinha’s numbers.

In addition to last Wednesday’s treble, the versatile attacker scored braces against Elche, Rayo and Feyenoord, while also finding the net against Athletic and Valencia. The only match he didn’t score in was the 4-2 victory over Levante, although he did provide two assists.

Prediction: Raphinha to score anytime: 4/6 (bet365)

Explanation: This bet will land if Raphinha scores during the match. 

Sevilla v Barcelona – Match Result Odds 

Sevilla: 10/1 (bet365)

Draw: 13/2 (bet365)

Barcelona: 1/5 (bet365)

Odds correct at the time of publication and subject to change.