Manchester City will look to add the Super Cup to their trophy cabinet when they square off against reigning Europa holders Sevilla in Greece. City claimed their maiden Champions League title last season, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul while Sevilla claimed an unprecedented 7th Europa League crown in 22/23, edging Jose Mourinho’s Roma on penalties
City come into this fixture on the back of an easy 3-0 win over Premier League new boys Burnley on the opening day of the 23/24 season. Two first half goals from Erling Haaland put City in the drivers’ seat at half time, and a second half goal from close range by Rodri, also the scorer of City’s Champions League final winner, gave them a 3-0 win over Vincent Kompany’s side. The hosts ended the game with ten men after Anass Zaroury was given his marching orders for fouling Kyle Walker late in the fixture.
Sevilla, on the other hand, had to taste defeat in their league opener, going down 2-1 to Valencia at home. The Andalusians went behind to Mouctar Diakhaby’s goal on the hour mark, and although Youssuf En-Nesyri drew them level nine minutes later, Los Che snatched a late winner through Javi Guerra on 88 minutes. Sevilla also finished the game with ten men following a red card to Loic Balde.
The odds for this clash on the PP live bets site suggest that City are favourites, and for good reason. The last four meetings between the two teams have all seen City run out winners, including 3-1 (H) and 4-0 (A) victories in last season’s Champions League group stage campaign. Despite their domination of the Europa League, Sevilla have never quite been able to translate that into success at Super Cup level- they’ve lost the last five finals that they’ve been in.
H2H MCFC against Sevilla
Man City 3-1 Sevilla
Sevilla 0-4 Man City
Sevilla 1-3 Man City
Man City 2-1 Sevilla
Sevilla record in SC games (most recent first)
Bayern 2-1 Sevilla
Real Madrid 3-2 Sevilla
Barcelona 5-4 Sevilla
Real Madrid 2-0 Sevilla
AC Milan 3-1 Sevilla
Sevilla 3-0 Barcelona
The only SC win for the Andalusians, as you can see, came back in 2006 when they triumphed 3-0 over La Liga rivals Barca in Monaco.
However Sevilla do have the advantage of slightly better scheduling- their next league game is only on Monday (away at Alaves). City have a tough fixture on Saturday night against fellow Champions League participants Newcastle coming up, and Eddie Howe’s men are top of the league after GW1 following a 5-1 demolition of Aston Villa on the opening weekend.
City will also be without the services of the mercurial Kevin de Bruyne, with the influential playmaker picking up an injury against the Clarets. The penalty shootout defeat against Arsenal in the Community Shield will also be playing on their minds- City’s attack was pretty poor against the Gunners until de Bruyne came onto the pitch.