Back sprightly Sevilla to end Leicester City’s Champions League dream

A 2-1 defeat in the first leg in Sevilla was the final nail in Claudio Ranieri’s coffin at Leicester City, proving the popular Italian’s last game in charge of the current Premier League champions.

Another agonising loss, a feeling the Foxes had experienced so often this season under Ranieri, who led them to Premier League glory only nine months prior. However, despite another below-par performance, the misfiring Foxes did grab a valuable away goal through Jamie Vardy, leaving their hopes of making the last eight still very much alive.

Following Ranieri’s controversial dismissal the day after the setback in Sevilla, caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare has steadied the ship with back-to-back 3-1 home wins against Liverpool and Hull. As a result, “Shakey” has been rewarded with the Foxes job on a permanent basis until the end of the season — as predicted here.

Those two vital PL wins edged Leicester away from the bottom three, but still just three points from the relegation zone. Due to Arsenal’s involvement in the FA Cup, the Foxes had no league game at the weekend so decided to have a jolly in Dubai ahead of this crunch Champions League encounter. Leicester have no injury worries and can pick from a full-strength squad.

Sevilla should have been home and hosed from the first leg, but somehow only managed to win 2-1 and leave Leicester every chance of progression. In addition, the Europa League champions aren’t in the greatest of form approaching the return in the East Midlands. A pair of 1-1 draws against La Liga minnows of Alaves and Leganes are further evidence of Seville’s current malaise.

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Nevertheless, Sevilla remain commanding favourites to win this game in 90 minutes at 5-4 with Betway. Leicester, so impressive at home when winning the Premier League against all odds, have continued their dominant King Power form with a 100% record in the CL, beating Porto (1-0), Copenhagen (1-0) and Club Brugge (2-1) in the group stages. A narrow 1-0 win would be enough to seal a first-ever European quarterfinal, Marathon have the best price at 12-5, while the draw is pretty decent value at 11-4 with betfred / betvictor.

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You have to respect Sevilla’s greater European experience and their masterclass against Liverpool in last year’s Europa League Final is still fresh in the memory. Coached by Jorge Sampaoli, one of the front runners for the Barcelona job, Sevilla have prevailed in all but one of the 18 European ties in which they won the home first leg. The Argentinian is renowned for his smart counter-attacking football and given Leicester’s defensive woes this season, it’s hard to see Seville failing to score at the King Power.

But I’m not convinced at all by Leicester’s ability to turn this tie around, judging by Sevilla’s parsimonious defensive record this season –with impressive clean sheets in Zagreb, Juventus and Lyon in the group stages. So BTTS NO at 29-20 with Bet Victor looks a decent shout.

I’m confident of a Seville win to boost their European credentials, with the enhanced 1-0 Sevilla win at 52-5 with 188 bet outstanding value, with a covering shot on 2-0 at 12-1 with bet victor as Leicester leave themselves exposed late on going for broke