Arsenal hopes to resume winning ways against Europa League champion Sevilla on Tuesday night after somehow extending their unblemished start to the 2023–24 Premier League season.
Sevilla vs. Arsenal preview: Prediction, team information, and lineups
On matchday two, Los Palanganas and PSV Eindhoven played to a thrilling 2-2 draw as Mikel Arteta’s team fell short in a 2-1 defeat at Lens.
Jose Luis Mendilibar, who saved a floundering Sevilla and guided Los Palanganas to their seventh Europa League title last month, is now looking for a new position after another ugly run of domestic results put an end to his employment at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
In his first match in charge, former Uruguay manager Diego Alonso truly felt the meaning of a baptism of fire when Sevilla welcomed league leaders Real Madrid to their stadium but came away with their heads held high after a well-deserved 1-1 draw.
Even if the game seemed to be scripted for Sergio, Dani Carvajal saved his teammate’s face just four minutes after David Alaba’s awful own goal gave Sevilla the lead.
The hard-earned point against Carlo Ancelotti’s team is Sevilla’s third consecutive draw; the team’s first two draws saw Los Palanganas blow two one-goal leads to draw with PSV Eindhoven in their most recent Champions League match, where they were leveled by a Jordan Teze injury-time goal.
Only Las Palmas and Almeria have lost to Sevilla this season, although the hosts can take some comfort in the knowledge that both of those victories occurred in front of their home supporters, where they will now look for just their third victory in 17 games in Europe’s top league.
While much of the pregame discussion at Stamford Bridge focused on Mauricio Pochettino and Mikel Arteta’s heartwarming reunion, another headline was just waiting to be written as Mykhaylo Mudryk, who Arsenal pursued assiduously in January, nearly doomed his former admirers to defeat in peculiar fashion.
After falling behind to Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty, Arsenal saw Mudryk’s cross-corner shot slip past David Raya’s helpless reach and into the net’s side, but as has been the case so frequently in 2023, Arteta’s team somehow turned things around as time expired and managed to escape with a point.
Leandro Trossard, the player Arsenal signed as a Mudryk substitute, came through off the bench with an 85th-minute equalizer to spare Raya the complete shame. Robert Sanchez had saved Raya from the full humiliation with a terrible cross straight to Declan Rice, who dutifully obliged from long range.
The past two weeks alone have brought about a wide range of emotions for Arsenal fans, who have also seen their team defeat Manchester City and take a deserved Champions League beating away to Lens before the break. The latter result dropped the Gunners to second in Group A after their 4-0 thrashing of PSV.
Few in the red and white could dispute that a point at Stamford Bridge was kind, but that London derby is now in the past, and Arsenal are now searching for their first away Champions League victory since Basel were subjected to a 4-1 humiliation by Arsene Wenger’s club in December 2016.
Wenger was also in charge of Arsenal’s only two previous encounters with Sevilla in 2007, when the Gunners cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Emirates but Sevilla avenged that defeat by winning 3-1 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan before both teams advanced to the knockout stages.
The only two expected absentees for the hosts on Tuesday should be goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor (knee) and forward Mariano Diaz (thigh), neither of whom would have forced their way into the starting lineup. Sevilla head coach Alonso inherited a nearly totally fit squad from Mendilibar.
Youssef En-Nesyri, the team’s star player, was forced to leave the game against Real Madrid late on, but the Moroccan is only thought to be tired and should start this match in his rightful position. Alonso acknowledged this.
Rafa Mir is available in case En-Nesyri needs a respite, while Boubakary Soumare, who received praise from Alonso for his performance against Real Madrid, may continue to play at the base of the midfield.
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