Sports Blog 21/02/2018: UEFA Champions League Preview – Sevilla vs Manchester United, Wednesday 21st February 2018

Can Manchester United squeeze Sevilla’s oranges in their Champions League last-16 bout, at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2?

United haven’t had a particularly fun few weeks. They’ve lost 2 of their last 3 Premier League games – one somewhat acceptable (a 2-0 Wembley defeat to Tottenham), the other less so (a 1-0 flop against Newcastle) – and now sit 16 points behind Man City, with Chelsea breathing down their necks in 3rd. In fact, since the end of January the only side Jose Mourinho’s men have beaten is Huddersfield, picking up a pair of 2-0 victories in the league and the FA Cup respectively.



Romelu Lukaku has, at least, rediscovered some of his early in the season form. Since the New Year began the Belgian forward has scored 6 goals in 9 games – admittedly nearly half of those are in the FA Cup – a solid rate of return that leaves him with a Super Mega PGM of 27-32. That’s ahead of Alexis Sanchez at 19-23, Marcus Rashford at 18-22 and Anthony Martial at 16-20.

As for Europe, United breezed through one of the easier Champions League groups, with 5 wins (and one surprise loss in Switzerland) against the likes of Basel, CSKA Moscow and Benfica. Yet topping Group A didn’t result in the kind of draw Mourinho would have liked.

Sevilla are a tricky proposition. Though they have been incredibly inconsistent domestically, and only managed to pick up 9 points in the Champions League’s Group E – and suffered a wince-worthy 5-1 collapse at Spartak Moscow – the Spaniards shouldn’t be underestimated. Twice Liverpool came away with just a point, first a 2-2 tie at Anfield and then a 3-3 draw at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Defensively, it has to be said, Sevilla have been a bit ropey this season – 4 times in all competitions have they conceded 5 goals. Upfront, however, they have Wissam Ben Yedder to rely on. The French forward has 16 goals to his name this season, including 6 in 6 during the Champions League group stages, and heads into Wednesday night at a Super Mega PGM of 28-34.

The hosts’ frailties at the back arguably gives the visitors the edge, with Spreadex offering a Manchester United/Sevilla Goal Supremacy spread of 0-0.2 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6.