Sevilla vs Real Sociedad preview, h2h, team news: Akor Adams leads La Liga survival charge

The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán has been witness to many of the finest nights in Spanish football history, but Monday’s La Liga clash between Sevilla and Real Sociedad carries a significance that no one at this famous old ground could have imagined when the season kicked off last August, Afrik-Foot reports.

Seven-time winners of the UEFA Europa League. The most decorated club in the history of that competition. The pride of Andalusia. And yet Sevilla go into this match sitting in the relegation zone with five games remaining, fighting for their top-flight lives against a Real Sociedad side that arrives fresh from winning the Copa del Rey. The contrast between the two clubs’ seasons could scarcely be more stark.

Match preview: Sevilla vs Real Sociedad

The story of Sevilla’s 2025-26 campaign is one of a club whose long-running structural and financial problems have finally caught up with them where it matters most: on the pitch.

Luis García Plaza’s side sit 18th in La Liga with 34 points from 33 matches, the result of just nine wins, seven draws and 17 defeats across a miserable season.

Their defensive record is the most alarming statistic of all. Fifty-five goals conceded heading into Matchday 34 is the worst return in the entire division, and it represents a fundamental breakdown that has undermined everything positive the side has tried to produce at the other end.

Across their last 10 La Liga matches, Sevilla have managed only two wins, and their recent results make for grim reading: a 2-0 defeat at home to promoted Levante was swiftly followed by a 2-1 loss at Osasuna last weekend, a match in which they led before surrendering a late winner.

The Osasuna defeat was particularly gutting. García Plaza’s men had done the hard work to get their noses in front, only for the game to be ripped from their grasp in the closing stages by a side with little left to play for.

Their remaining schedule offers little comfort either. After Monday, Sevilla still face Espanyol, Villarreal, Real Madrid, and Celta Vigo. It is arguably the most difficult run-in of any team in the bottom half, and experts have widely flagged it as the chief reason why Sevilla are widely tipped as the favourites to go down despite being just one point from safety.

Real Sociedad, meanwhile, arrive in Seville in a very different mood. Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side are seventh in La Liga, they have already guaranteed European football for next season courtesy of winning the Copa del Rey, and the joy of their April final victory over Atletico Madrid is still palpable within the squad.

That cup triumph is a double-edged sword heading into Monday, however.

Having celebrated winning the Copa del Rey just weeks ago, there are legitimate questions about whether La Real will be able to summon the same intensity for a league trip to Seville. Their last five La Liga outings have yielded just one victory, with a 3-3 draw at Rayo Vallecano last weekend illustrating that this is a side that has, understandably, drifted into end-of-season mode in the league.

Even so, a squad capable of dismantling Atletico Madrid in a cup final is not suddenly going to become a soft touch. There is also something to play for in terms of Europa League seeding and the residual pride of finishing as high as possible in the table.

Sevilla’s home form has been fractionally better than their away record, but neither is convincing, and the Pizjuán crowd is as likely to be an oppressive force as an inspiring one given the tension surrounding the relegation battle. This is a game being played in a pressure cooker, and only one side truly has the quality to thrive in those conditions.

Head-to-head

These two clubs have met 45 times in all competitions, and the overall record gives Sevilla a very marginal edge: 18 wins compared to Real Sociedad’s 16, with 11 draws between them.

That overall lead, however, does not reflect the more recent balance of power. Real Sociedad have won five of the last 10 meetings between the clubs, while Sevilla have managed four, and across those 10 games, Sociedad have scored 15 goals to Sevilla’s 11.

The reverse fixture earlier in the current campaign was a case in point. Mikel Oyarzabal put Sociedad ahead with a penalty inside 20 minutes at the Reale Arena, Nemanja Gudelj briefly levelled with a well-worked set-piece finish, and then a defensive mix-up between Gudelj and José Ángel Carmona gifted Oyarzabal a second. The Basques ran out 2-1 winners and, ironically, the victory helped lift them out of the bottom three at the time.

A win on Monday would allow Real Sociedad to complete a league double over Sevilla for the first time in nearly a decade, a statistic that will sting the Nervión faithful deeply given the context of the season.

Four of the last six encounters between these two sides have seen both teams score, which aligns neatly with the current form profile of both squads and points to another open, watchable contest when they meet again.

Team news

Sevilla: Outs and doubts

Djibril Sow is suspended and will miss the game, which is a meaningful blow to a midfield that already lacks legs and energy.

Marcão remains out for the season after suffering a broken foot, while César Azpilicueta is an injury doubt and is unlikely to be risked given the severity of his hamstring issue, despite having targeted this match as a potential return.

Gabriel Suazo was also reported to be working his way back to fitness earlier in the week, but his availability remains uncertain for Monday, and García Plaza may well be forced to name a defensive unit constructed from whatever fit bodies remain available.

Lucien Agoumé returns from suspension, which is a genuine positive, and the French midfielder’s energy and range of passing will be crucial if Sevilla are to have any chance of controlling the tempo at home.

Akor Adams, who has contributed eight goals and three assists in La Liga this season, is expected to lead the line regardless of what else changes around him. He remains Sevilla’s sharpest attacking weapon and the player Real Sociedad will be most wary of on the counter-attack.

Rubén Vargas had been carrying an injury earlier in the month but should be available to provide width from the left side, and Isaac Romero may be asked to play in a more advanced support role behind Adams.

Sevilla predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Vlachodimos; Castrin, Gudelj, Kike Salas; Juanlu, Agoumé, Manu Bueno, Oso; Isaac Romero, Vargas; Adams

Real Sociedad: Outs and doubts

Pellegrino Matarazzo has several players unavailable for the trip to Seville. Álvaro Odriozola (knee) and Iñaki Rupérez are both out, and Jon Karrikaburu also misses out through injury.

Igor Zubeldia is a significant doubt having been struggling with a muscular complaint. Should the experienced centre-back fail to make it, Aritz Elustondo is the most likely candidate to slot in alongside Duje Caleta-Car at the heart of defence.

Gonçalo Guedes is also a doubt, and his possible absence would be a loss given how much threat he provides from wide areas and how often he has been directly involved in Sociedad’s goals this season.

Takefusa Kubo returned to action following his own spell on the sidelines and is expected to start, continuing the partnership with Oyarzabal that has been so productive in recent months.

Carlos Soler and Jon Gorrotxategi are expected to play together in the centre of midfield, with Brais Méndez providing a wide option on the left, while Aihen Muñoz should fill in at left-back in the absence of the injured options behind him.

Real Sociedad predicted XI (4-4-2): Remiro; Elustondo, Caleta-Car, Jon Martín, Aihen Muñoz; Kubo, Gorrotxategi, Carlos Soler, Brais Méndez; Oyarzabal, Óskarsson

Star players

The managers

Luis García Plaza (Sevilla)

García Plaza is Sevilla’s third manager of the 2025-26 season, and the weight of expectation on his shoulders when he walked through the door in March 2026 was immense from the very first day.

The 53-year-old Spaniard replaced the dismissed Matias Almeyda following a 2-0 defeat at Valencia and has spent the weeks since desperately trying to shore up a club that is haemorrhaging goals and confidence in equal measure.

His La Liga experience is not in question. García Plaza has managed 229 top-flight matches with Levante, Getafe, Villarreal and Deportivo Alavés, a résumé that includes guiding Levante to promotion and keeping them up in the top flight, as well as earning a return to La Liga with both Mallorca and Alavés.

The problem is that his best work in Spain has tended to come with time to implement his ideas and build a squad in his image. At Sevilla, he has had neither luxury. He has a broken squad, a tattered confidence, a relentless schedule and a fanbase that is understandably on the edge.

His preferred setup appears to be a three-man defence with wing-backs providing width, a structure designed to give Sevilla some defensive solidarity. It has not produced clean sheets at the rate needed, but removing Sow’s energy from midfield through suspension makes his job even harder on Monday.

Pellegrino Matarazzo (Real Sociedad)

If García Plaza arrived at Sevilla walking into chaos, Pellegrino Matarazzo found exactly the opposite at Real Sociedad.

The Italian-American coach, 48, was appointed after Ion Ansotegi stabilised the club through the winter break following Sergio Francisco’s mid-season dismissal, and Matarazzo has taken the baton and run with it spectacularly.

His record since taking permanent charge stands at five wins, three draws and zero defeats in eight matches, a run that includes the Copa del Rey final victory over Atletico Madrid in April.

Matarazzo made his name in Germany with Hoffenheim and Stuttgart, developing a reputation for high-energy, organised, possession-based football that presses aggressively and uses width to stretch opponents.

At the Reale Arena, he has breathed fresh belief into a dressing room that had been teetering on the edge of the relegation zone as recently as December. Getting his side sufficiently motivated for what could look like a low-stakes away trip will be his primary challenge on Monday.

Tactical preview

Luis García Plaza’s 3-4-2-1 is designed above all else to give Sevilla a solid defensive base, with the back three offering cover against the diagonal runs that Oyarzabal and Óskarsson are so effective at making.

The wing-backs push high to support Adams in transition, but when they are caught out of position, they leave significant space in wide areas that Real Sociedad’s attacking fullbacks and wide midfielders will look to exploit aggressively.

Brais Méndez in particular has the quality and the work ethic to probe those channels repeatedly, while Kubo on the opposite side offers a direct threat that Sevilla’s defensive cover on the right could struggle to handle, particularly if Azpilicueta is absent.

Agoumé’s return to midfield is crucial for Sevilla because, without him, the central area is severely undermanned. García Plaza will want the Frenchman to sit slightly deeper and screen the back three, protecting the spaces between the lines that Sociedad’s mobile attackers love to operate in.

For Matarazzo, the 4-4-2 provides twin reference points in attack for the midfield to play off, and the flat four behind them offers compactness when defending while also enabling quick, short combinations when building from the back.

The key tactical battle is likely to be in the central midfield zone. If Carlos Soler and Jon Gorrotxategi can dominate the middle, cutting off supply to Sevilla’s forwards and winning second balls, Real Sociedad will be able to dictate the rhythm of the game.

Sevilla’s best route back into the contest would be through set pieces, where Gudelj’s physicality and the height in their back three can be a genuine threat. They scored from a dead ball situation in the reverse fixture, and García Plaza will have this area well drilled.

The risk for Sevilla is that they push men forward looking for goals and leave themselves exposed on the counter-attack, which is precisely where a side like Real Sociedad, with Oyarzabal’s clever movement and Óskarsson’s directness, can do fatal damage on the break.

Betting tips

Our Prediction: What will happen?

The data points consistently in one direction for this match, and that direction is away from Sevilla.

García Plaza’s side have conceded 55 La Liga goals this season, the worst record in the division, and they now face a Real Sociedad side with the league’s sixth-best attack by goals scored and the quality to punish disorganised defences at will.

Sevilla will give everything they have in front of their own fans, and Akor Adams is capable of creating something from very little. But with Sow suspended and key defensive personnel doubtful, the structural issues that have plagued Los Nervionenses all season are not going to be fixed in a single Monday evening.

Real Sociedad may not be at their sharpest given their Copa del Rey hangover, but Pellegrino Matarazzo has built a resilient, dangerous side that does not get beaten easily. A solid, professional performance from Sociedad, with Oyarzabal finding the net once more, feels like the most likely outcome.

Sevilla are more than capable of contributing a goal at the other end, and the high-scoring nature of recent encounters between these clubs suggests the game will not be tight and low. But a Sociedad win, completed with something to spare, looks the most probable result from all angles.

Score prediction

Monday offers Sevilla one of five lifelines remaining in a season that has gone from bad to worse. It is, however, an opportunity for Real Sociedad to complete a statement double over one of Spanish football’s most storied clubs and round off a season they can be genuinely proud of.

Whether Sevilla can find the fight, the quality, and the belief to take anything from this game remains to be seen. History suggests it will be a difficult evening. The data says the same.