Sevilla-Mallorca

By: Jeremy | September 21st, 2009

Aftre three games, things are still sorting themselves out in LaLiga. After two home wins over relegation candidates and a draw on the road to a tough Villarreal side, Mallorca fans can get a little cocky, especially after past starts to seasons. We sit in the top four at seven points, and head to Sevilla for a game agains the best team this side of Real Madrid and Barca.

With the typical Mallorca offseason turnover, the team was favored to finish in the relegation zone this season. While its only three games and Manzano seems to continue with his lineup rotation, the fact Mallorca has beaten the teams it is supposed to beat means that we might be in for a more consistent season this year even if best case scenario is a top 10 finish. Putting four past Tenerife and dominating them to the point where we could have scored more, bodes well for this team and its confidence.

Sevilla is its usual self. Very quietly it finishes in the Champions League positions and has a load of talent. Their star forward, Luis Fabiano will return for this mid week game and he adds to their superior talent. While they are still finding themselves, the sit at 6 points after 3 matches, which puts them right in line to finish where they did last year. To continue such momentum, they must beat Mallorca at home.

Manzano will likely have a lot of changes because of the quick turnaround and with Ayoze out, the lineup wont be quite as deep. Look for Aduriz to get a lot of chances at goal and he could end up being man of the match as Mallorca will look to do what they did against Villarreal.

Mallorca has another huge opportunity to open some eyes in LaLiga. They have no pressure and will travel with a relaxed confident attitude. There is still no way to tell what kind of team we have in that we tied Villarreal on a water soaked pitch and beat two relegation teams at home. A loss to Sevilla does not tell us anything either as we seem to have solidified a mid table type approach so far. With the way Manzano rotates his lineup to keep things fresh, this could be a week for a surprise, even if Fabiano returns for Sevilla. Confidence is running high in Palma so I am looking for something special.

Prediction

Sevilla 2-2 Mallorca

Prediction record to date: 2-1