Now sitting 10 points off the top of the La Liga table, Sevilla will look to keep their increasingly-slim title hopes just about alive when they host Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Consecutive draws have seen Julen Lopetegui's side fall well behind Real Madrid, while they now come in on the back of a disappointing continental defeat to drop out of the Europa League.

Match preview

While Sevilla have been particularly impressive to remain in the title race over the course of the La Liga season, they have seen their chances dwindle in recent weeks, despite going on a 14-game league unbeaten run.

With that including seven draws, Lopetegui's men have actually lost ground on leaders Real Madrid rather than gaining it, and the gap has now been stretched to 10 points after disappointing draws with Alaves and Rayo Vallecano in their last two top-flight outings.

They then travelled to London to take on West Ham United in the second leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday, and, despite going in with a 1-0 advantage from their home leg thanks to Munir El Haddadi's goal, they were dumped out after extra time.

Tomas Soucek drew the English side level in the first half, and with no other goals coming in regulation time, the tie went to a period of extra time, in which Andriy Yarmolenko netted the decisive goal to eliminate Los Nervionenses.

Now with their attention fully focused on the league, Lopetegui's side will look to make a return to winning ways to put pressure on Real Madrid and remain clear of third-placed Barcelona, who now sit just five points behind with a game in hand.

They welcome a Real Sociedad side also battling at the top end of the table, as they look to push for Champions League qualification while strengthening their place in the top six.

Imanol Alguacil's suffered an exit from the Europa League in the previous stage to their opponents at the hands of RB Leipzig, while losing 4-0 to Athletic Bilbao between the two legs, but they have since bounced back in impressive fashion.

Los Txuri-Urdin have now won three of their last four games in the Spanish top flight, firstly beating Osasuna and Mallorca before they were comfortably toppled by league leaders Real Madrid despite taking the lead through Mikel Oyarzabal.

La Real were able to make an instant return to winning ways last weekend, defeating Alaves 1-0 on home turf thanks to Martin Zubimendi's goal.

With every side in the top seven also winning last time out, other than Sunday's hosts, Real Sociedad have not gained any new ground, but they did keep hold of their position in sixth spot while remaining just four points behind the top four, meaning they still have plenty to play for in the hunt for Champions League football.

Team News

Sevilla have a long list of injuries to deal with, as attackers Suso, Papu Gomez and Erik Lamela are set to be ruled out alongside defenders Karim Rekik, Marcos Acuna and Diego Carlos.

Given those absences, Nemanja Gudelj may again have to slot in as a makeshift centre-back alongside Jules Kounde, with Ludwig Augustinsson an adequate backup on the left-hand side of the back four.

Further forward, key striker Youssef En-Nesyri could again be flanked by Jesus Corona and Manchester United loanee Anthony Martial, with Rafa Mir, Lucas Ocampos and Munir El Haddadi also pushing for spots in the front line.

Real Sociedad also have selection concerns to battle through, as young winger Ander Barrenetxea is certainly ruled out alongside Nacho Monreal and Carlos Fernandez, while creative midfielder David Silva missed out last time out.

Winger Mikel Oyarzabal and midfielder Martin Zubimendi are both likely to return to the starting XI after being reduced to substitute appearances against Alaves.

The former leads La Real's scoring charts with nine La Liga goals this term, and he should support Alexander Isak, with Portu and Adnan Januzaj likely batting for the spot on the other flank.

Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bono; Navas, Kounde, Gudelj, Augustinsson; Jordan, Delaney, Rakitic; Ocampos, En-Nesyri, Martial

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Normand, Pacheco, Rico; Merino, Illaramendi, Zubimendi; Portu, Isak, Oyarzabal

We say: Sevilla 1-1 Real Sociedad

Sevilla's struggles for victories recently, combined with a heavily wounded squad, could see them fall short again on Sunday.

La Real will certainly back themselves to leave with a result, and, despite the loss of Silva, they possess the quality to force a share of the spoils away at La Liga's second-placed side.

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