La Liga: Alonso is Not Yet Safe From the Hot Seat

Real Madrid vs Sevilla

Xabi Alonso has been on the proverbial hot seat, as Real Madrid have underperformed this season. Los Blancos are second in the La Liga standings with 39 points, trailing Barcelona by four, following a mixed bag of La Liga 2025 results last month. Meanwhile, they’ve dropped to seventh in the Champions League table with two losses from their last three.

There were murmurs that Alonso would’ve been fired if he lost to Alaves, but Real Madrid won 2-1. And yesterday, the team just scraped a 3-2 win over Talavera, a third-tier side, to advance to the Copa del Rey Round of 16.

Up next is a home game against Sevilla, who are undefeated in their last two league games and are vying for a European football berth. Los Palanganas won 4-0 against Oviedo last Sunday, but lost 1-0 to Alaves in the Copa del Rey Round of 32.

 

Talking Points

Are Real Madrid over-reliant on Mbappe’s goals?

Kylian Mbappe is one short of tying Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most Real Madrid goals in a calendar year after bagging a brace against Talavera in the Copa del Rey yesterday. The 26-year-old Frenchman scored his 57th and 58th goals of 2025 to fend off a late comeback from the third division side. He will have his chance to add to his tally and even surpass the Portuguese great against Sevilla on Saturday.

Manager Xabi Alonso made 10 changes to the side that beat Alaves last Sunday, with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Thibaut Courtois, and Vinicius Jr. dropping to the bench. Besides Mbappe, backup goalie Andriy Lunin played a major role in the victory with his exceptional save in the dying moments to preserve Los Blancos’ lead.

Given their grueling schedule, Alonso is forced to rotate his squad regularly, though he’ll have a wider selection against Sevilla. Some of the notable returnees include Raul Asencio, Eduardo Camavinga, Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, and Fede Valverde. 

On the other hand, Endrick and Alvaro Carreras will continue to serve their suspensions, and Brahim Diaz will compete for Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations. Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, and Ferland Mendy remain long-term absentees due to injury.

 

Sevilla to lose in-form forward

Speaking of the Africa Cup of Nations, Sevilla are also affected by it, as Akor Adams will represent Nigeria. The 25-year-old striker is the team’s joint-top scorer with three league goals and two assists.

Adams was the Man of the Match in their 4-0 rout of Oviedo, as he opened the scoring binge in the fourth minute and assisted two more goals to Djibril Sow and Batista Mendy in the 22nd and 51st minutes. Chidera Ejuke put the final nail in the coffin in the 89th minute.

With Adams unavailable, Sevilla will rely more on Ruben Vargas, Isaac Romero, and Alexis Sanchez for goals. The trio has combined for eight league goals and five assists thus far.

 

History

Real Madrid notched a league double over Sevilla last season. They won 4-2 at the Bernabeu in December 2024 and won 2-0 at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium last May. Kylian Mbappe was on the scoresheet in those games.

Overall, Los Blancos are undefeated in their last 13 La Liga matches (W11, D2) against Los Palanganas. The latter’s previous win in this fixture was a 3-0 result in September 2018. At the time, Real Madrid planned to take advantage of Barcelona’s shock 2-1 defeat at Leganes on the same weekend, but to no avail.

As noted, Sevilla are gunning for their first top-half finish since the 2021-22 campaign, where they ended up in fourth place. In the past three seasons, Los Palanganas finished 12th, 14th, and 17th, barely escaping the relegation zone last term.

 

Betting Tip

The La Liga 2025 odds expect nothing less than a Real Madrid victory on Saturday evening. Real Madrid are 1.20 favourites to take maximum points, while Sevilla are huge 9.20 underdogs, and a draw is at 6.20 in the 1X2 market. Any other result will make Xabi Alonso’s hot seat warmer.

Both sides can score goals, but Los Blancos’ firepower should see this through. Besides our recommended bet, SBOTOP bettors may also consider adding Over 3.25 at 1.72, Over 3.50 at 1.97, Over 3.75 at 2.19, and even Total Goals 4-6 at 2.20 to the parlay. 

A Correct Score of 2-0 in favour of Real Madrid – the result of their last league encounter – is on offer at 7.40 your bet. Meanwhile, a win for Sevilla (Correct Score) will give you at least 34.00 your bet.

   

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