Good news has been few and far between for Sevilla this season and on Saturday it was another frustrating night for the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
A 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano has left them in the relegation zone once again and they will go into El Gran Derbi against city rivals Real Betis in 18th, unless Getafe are beaten by Elche on Monday night. Betis will go into the weekend in the fourth spot that Sevilla had made their own in recent seasons, with a 13-point gap to boot.
To compound matters, Sevilla will be without their star summer signing Isco. The former Real Madrid creator received his fifth booking of the season and will be suspended for the derby at the Benito Villamarin.
Manager Jorge Sampaoli will be waiting on the fitness of Fernando Reges and Youssef En-Nesyri, who missed the Rayo match at the weekend.
Should Sevilla fall to defeat, the sense of pessimism will envelop Los Nervionenses once more. Although it looked as if matters were improving under Sampaoli, he still has just two wins to his name against Copenhagen and Real Mallorca.
