Julen Lopetegui faces selection dilemma over the likes of Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio

Andy West 14:05 25/09/2018
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    Real Madrid face a stiff challenge from dangerous Sevilla in an enticing La Liga showdown at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday night.

    Both teams are in good form, with Real unbeaten and Sevilla scoring 11 goals in their last two games.

    It promises to be an explosive encounter on a balmy night in southern Spain, and here we pick out three big talking points ahead of the action.

    CAN SEVILLA FORWARD LINE FIRE AGAIN? 

    Wissam Ben Yedder

    Wissam Ben Yedder

    Sevilla are showing signs of developing into a more than decent team under new coach Pablo Machin, blasting their way to a 6-2 victory at Levante on Sunday on the back of a hat-trick from French frontman Wissam Ben Yedder.

    It was the first time Sevilla have ever scored six goals away from home in La Liga, and with Ben Yedder complemented in attack by rising Portuguese star Andre Silva and pacy Colombian Luis Muriel, the Andalusian outfit clearly possess enough firepower to trouble any defence – even a Real team which has kept clean sheets in the last two games and has generally looked structurally tighter than recent years.

    Their problem this season has been inconsistency, perhaps as a result of the players adjusting to the 3-4-3 formation employed by Machin. As well as putting four past Rayo Vallecano and scoring five against Standard Liege in the Europe League, they have also slipped to scoreless league defeats against Getafe and near neighbours Real Betis, so their task is to perform at the same level every week. But if they reach their best, they will take some stopping.

    REAL HOLDING ANYTHING IN RESERVE? 

    Daniel Ceballos

    Daniel Ceballos

    Real are heading into the game in the knowledge that a showdown with local rivals Atletico is looming large on the horizon.

    Diego Simeone’s team travel to the Bernabeu on Saturday evening, and Real coach Julen Lopetegui would be forgiven for already having an eye on that fixture when he selects his starting eleven against Sevilla considering the poor recent record for his team against their local rivals.

    The Bernabeu boss has already shown himself to be a firm believer in squad rotation, giving significant playing time to last season’s forgotten man Dani Ceballos while leaving established stars such as Luka Modric and Toni Kroos on the bench.

    The most recent example came with Saturday’s hard-earned home win over Espanyol, where both regular full-backs Marcelo and Dani Carvajal were omitted as Nacho and debutant Alvaro Odriozola were given a chance to impress.

    That was our probably done to ensure Marcelo and Carvajal are both fit and fresh enough to face the demands of playing against Sevilla and Atletico in the space of four days, but it would be no surprise if Lopetegui makes more tweaks elsewhere to ensure he can field his strongest eleven in the best possible shape this weekend.

    ISCO OUT BUT OPTIONS REMAIN 

    Gareth Bale

    Gareth Bale

    Isco is set to miss a month of action after the club revealed on Tuesday he had been diagnosed with acute appendicitis but the coach has plenty of options for his forward line to contend with the absence.

    Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema can all operate in the starting XI and they have all provided reasons for inclusion with decent starts to the season.

    Benzema and Asensio have started every league game so far, with the latter playing more minutes than anyone other than skipper Sergio Ramos. Bale has missed just the weekend win over Espanyol, when he was rested, while Isco has only started three games and appeared in the other two from the bench.

    Those four are clearly the key attacking men for Lopetegui, but summer signing Mariano and winger Lucas Vazquez, who has come on as a substitute in every game so far, also provide viable options to the coach, who has repeatedly (and convincingly) stated his belief that modern football is a squad game and that the concept of a ‘first choice eleven’ is overvalued.

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