@BurrOaks77's Real Betis vs Sevilla Soccer Picks - 11/6

It is derby time in Spain once again. Betis will host Sevilla in “El Grande Derby” today. Betis has not won this head to head in La Liga since 2018. They will look to snap that streak today. Sevilla is having a very rough start to their campaign this year. They fired their manager, washed out of UCL, and are currently 2-4-6 in La Liga sitting in the relegation zone. Betis is currently sitting at fourth on the table with a 7-2-3 record, advanced into Europa knockouts with the top seed in groups, and is getting impact players back healthy. These two teams are definitely on different trajectories. Will an upset change the season around? Or will we head into an international break with the current status quo?

Betis has been playing great football recently. They're offense is clicking and players are scoring goals. In my opinion, Betis is performing well because Nabil Fakir is once again fit and match ready. Fakir picked up a knock against Roma in Europa league during the first week of October. Fakir had to miss four matches and was available for limited minutes as a sub in two more matches. In that six match span without Fakir, Betis was 2-3-1 and only managed to score six goals. Fakir is the offensive puppet master for Betis. He is the engine that drives the team forward and keeps players organized. He makes beautiful passes, effective crosses, takes some set piece duty, and can finish when presented with opportunity. I had to remind myself not to back Betis without Fakir in the lineup a few times in October. That will continue to be the case moving forward. The best goal scorer on Betis right now is Borja Iglesias. Iglesias has eight goals and two assists in La Liga this year and is the man to take PK’s if one is awarded. He is also currently the second leading goal scorer in Spain. I like him for a goal today.

Things in Sevilla have gone from bad to worse. Last year this team finished in the top four of La Liga, today they currently sit in 18th place. A big contribution to this downfall was the team selling on its two starting CB’s this offseason. Sevilla was unable to bring in effective replacements. That’s going to be a major problem when the team’s identity was to maintain possession and grind out wins in low scoring games. Next they fired the manager, because that’s what soccer clubs do. It doesn't matter that Lopetegui didn’t have the tools he needed to play his brand of football. He is sacked and Sampaoli takes his place. Now Sevilla are struggling through an identity crisis as they learn to play in a different system. Since taking over, Sampaoli’s Sevilla are 2-3-4 and one of those wins is in UCL vs Copenenhagen. I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about the club right now.

• Betis ML +114 Barstool
• Borja Iglesias AGS +155 FanDuel