Rayo Vallecano vs Sevilla Betting Preview
Rayo Vallecano will open their 2018/19 La Liga season at their Teresa Rivero stadium in Madrid neighborhood Vallecas. Rayo are back among the best Spanish teams, and immediately they will face one of the strongest teams in La Liga – Sevilla.
Sevilla have scored 14 goals in their previous five competitive matches.
Sevilla are undefeated in their last nine matches against Rayo in all competitions.
Rayo Vallecano won the title last term in La Liga II and right now they look as the best of newly promoted teams.
Although Rayo were really good last season they decided to strengthen the squad for La Liga. This summer they sold Fran Beltran to Celta and Johan Mojica to Girona, but decided to invest this money smartly. They bought off the contract for Gael Kakuta, signed defenders Emiliano Velazquez, Tito Jordi Amat and Luis Advincula, midfielder Jose Pozo, goalkeeper Alberto Garcia, and brought midfielder Alvaro Medran on loan from Valencia.
Generally, it seems that Rayo have decent squad, although they lost last two friendlies, one against Real Valladolid and one against Leganes, two teams that will also be in a relegation battle.
Huge advantage for Sevilla ahead of this match is the fact that they’re already played five competitive matches. Team from Andalusia won all four games in the Europa League against Ujpest and Žalgiris, while they were only narrowly beaten 2-1 by Barcelona in the Super Cup last weekend.
This Thursday coach Pablo Machin was forced to name a stronger team than he might have liked in Lithuania, but his side impressed from the off, running out 5-0 winners.
This summer Sevilla sold center-back Clement Lenglet, midfielders Guido Pizarro and Steven Nzonzi, and winger Joaquin Correa, but they also bought couple of “interesting” players. The visitors signed midfielders Ibrahim Amadou (Lille) and Roque Mesa (Swansea), center-backs Joris Gnagnon (Rennes) and Sergi Gomez (Celta), goalkeeper Tomaš Vaclik (Basel), and winger Aleix Vidal (Barcelona). They also brought attacker Andre Silva on loan from Milan.
Odds and Predictions
At first I wanted to pick Sevilla as winners, but I changed my mind. Rayo are back in the Primera, they play at home, so I wouldn’t be so surprised if they pull up some kind of upset. There is no doubt that Sevilla are far better side, but I’ll be cautious ahead of this match.
Also, I took into account fact that Sevilla played in Lithuania on Thursday. So, I decided to go with total goals. Rayo were always team who like to play attacking football, but their defense were never good. Sevilla can also be dangerous in attack, so I’m sure both teams can score and we can see over 2.5 goals.
Editor's Pick
Total goals over 2.5 @1.70.
