Sevilla and Sunderland are set to go head-to-head on the Algarve in a pre-season friendly on Saturday night.

After a season to remember for Sunderland, winning promotion back to the Premier League, it was one to forget for Sevilla, who only avoided relegation by one point.

Match preview

This will be another important preseason for Sevilla after a third straight underwhelming campaign for the La Liga giants.

After 12th and 14th-place finishes, Sevilla dropped further in 2024-25, ending the campaign in 17th, avoiding the drop by just one point, winning just one of their final 11 matches.

The rapid fall off has been staggering for a club who won the Europa League in 2023, and were playing in the Champions League just over a year ago.

Seeking a huge overhaul, Matias Almeyda has arrived to take charge and become Sevilla’s eighth manager in just three years.

It has been a difficult start for the new boss though, as they were beaten 3-1 by newly-promoted Championship club Birmingham City last weekend, but they still have plenty of time to turn their fortunes around ahead of their La Liga opener against Athletic Bilbao on August 17.

Sevilla will play Sunderland this weekend, before also facing Schalke, Marseille, Al Qadsiah and Toulouse before the league season gets underway.

A big season is on the horizon for Sunderland too, given it will be their first back in the Premier League since 2017.

The Black Cats are getting plenty of match practice under their belts ahead of their opener against West Ham in mid-August, having already beat local side South Shields 4-0 last weekend.

Sevilla are up next, and Regis Le Bris’s side will also come up against Sporting Lisbon, Hearts, Hull City, Real Betis and Augsburg across the next three weeks.

Excitement levels are rising at the Stadium of Light too, as the club has already spent over £100m on their Premier League return, with many more incomings still expected to arrive.

Sevilla Club Friendlies form:

L

Sunderland Club Friendlies form:

W

Team News

Sevilla’s only arrivals this summer have been on free transfers, and while Alfonso Gonzalez made his debut against Birmingham, Gabriel Suazo has not yet been involved.

Ruben Vargas, Tanguy Nianzou and Akor Adams are all back from injuries that kept them out of the end of last season, but defender Loic Bade was not involved in the defeat against Birmingham last week.

Sunderland fans will hope to see some of their new signings in action, as Noah Sadiki, Simon Adingra and Reinildo were all missing from their first friendly.

Habib Diarra did make his debut against South Shields, but Chemsdine Talbi remains out with a setback picked up during his time with Club Brugge.

Aji Alese is sidelined with a broken leg, and teenage sensation Chris Rigg also missed the clash with South Shields, and could remain out here.

Sevilla possible starting lineup:

Alvaro Fernandez; Carmona, Kike Salas, Nianzou, Adria Pedrosa; Sow, Rivera; Januzaj, Isaac Romero, Vargas; Adams

Sunderland possible starting lineup:

Patterson; Huggins, Ballard, Seelt, Hume; Neil, Diarra, Le Fee; Adingra, Isidor, Mayenda

We say: Sevilla 1-1 Sunderland

Sevilla had a difficult return to action against Birmingham, while Sunderland thrashed non-league South Shields, so it is difficult to determine how the game could go, especially with both sides welcoming back more first-team players to full training.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Andrew Delaney

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