Sevilla looks like the only team fighting with Real Madrid in the title race.

They are sitting 2nd on the table, 6 points below. Of course to win the title isn’t a real target for them, but they are in great form and are really deserving to be in the top positions of the table.

This match is really important for them: they need a victory after three consecutive draws, in the next midweek will play UEL 1/16 finals against Dinamo Zagreb, in three days a league game vs Espanyol, in 4 days the second leg vs Dinamo Zagreb and then in 3 days again the derby and a very difficult match vs Betis.

This means that in the next few weeks they may be distracted and surely will be tired, and they need to face it with a victory today.

Sevilla are playing so well, especially in defense. Is a really solid side, difficult to beat and to score against. They have conceded just 16 goals in 23 games (best defence of the league). Furthermore, starter goalkeeper Bono is back from the African Cup and available for this match. In attack, they have plenty of quality, starter striker En-Nesyri is back as well from CAF and the team is able to score without needing too many chances.

And we must remember the signing of a new attacker, Martial from Manchester United.

Finally, the record of Sevilla at home is really good: unbeaten after 11 games, with 8 victories.

On the other hand we have a weak and relegation team like Elche. They have a poor squad, but with enough quality and competitive spirit to avoid relegation. They are doing well, sitting 14th on the table and 8 points above relegation, so they don't have big needs for this match.

They had really poor performances against top teams: Lost vs Barcelona (3:2), Valencia (2:1), Betis (0:3), Real Madrid (1:2), Villarreal (4:1) and only achieved few weeks ago a draw vs Madrid (2:2) on a game where they were totally outplayed, only had two shots on target (100% effectiveness) and Madrid missed a penalty. And there’s a common thing in all games against big teams: Elche was outplayed and had very few chances to score.

In the previous game, both teams drew 1:1 at Elche’s home. But it was at the beginning of the season (August), Sevilla wasn’t in top form yet, but they already dominated the match with 71% possession and 16 shots.

Sevilla should leave the three points at home today.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

塞维利亚似乎是唯一一支与皇家马德里争夺冠军的球队。

他们排在第二，落后6分。当然，赢得冠军并不是他们真正的目标，但他们现在状态很好，真的应该排在积分榜的前列。

这场比赛对他们来说是非常重要的:他们需要连续三平的胜利之后,在接下来的决赛将在联合环境1/16周中对阵萨格勒布迪纳摩,在三天内联赛和西班牙人,4天第二回合对阵萨格勒布迪纳摩然后在3天再次derby和一个非常困难的匹配与贝蒂斯。

这意味着在接下来的几个星期里，他们可能会心烦意乱，肯定会很累，他们需要在今天取得胜利。

塞维利亚踢得很好，尤其是在防守方面。是一支非常坚固的球队，很难击败，很难得分。他们在23场比赛中只丢了16个球(联赛中最好的防守)。此外，首发门将波诺已经从非洲杯回来，可以参加这场比赛。在进攻方面，他们有很多高质量的球员，首发前锋内塞里也从CAF回来了，球队可以在不需要太多机会的情况下进球。

我们必须记住签下了一个新的攻击手，来自曼联的马绍尔。

最后，塞维利亚的主场战绩非常好:11场不败，8场胜利。

另一方面，我们有一支像埃尔切这样的弱队和保级队。他们的阵容很差，但有足够的素质和竞争精神来避免降级。他们做得很好，排在积分榜第14位，比降级还高8分，所以他们对这场比赛没有太大的需求。

他们真的对顶级球队表现不好:失去了巴塞罗那vs(3:2),瓦伦西亚(2:1),贝蒂斯(0:3),皇家马德里(1:2),比利亚雷亚尔(4:1),只有几个星期前一场平局和马德里(2:2)在一个游戏,他们完全击败了,只有两次射门效率(100%)和马德里错失了一个点球。所有与强队的比赛都有一个共同的特点:埃尔切被击败，几乎没有进球的机会。

在前一场比赛中，两队在埃尔切家1:1打平。但在赛季初(8月)，塞维利亚还没有达到最佳状态，但他们已经以71%的控球率和16次出手控制了比赛。

塞维利亚今天应该在主场拿到三分。