Team news: four return, two are out
Luis García Plaza has named a 24-man squad for the trip to Getafe on Sunday, 1 November, and the headline is the return of four players who sat out the cup tie. According to [1], Kike Salas, Gabriel Suazo, Lucien Agoumé and Lucas Stassin are all back after resting in the Copa del Rey, and all four could start. That last point is only a rumour, so it should be read as a likely direction rather than a confirmed line-up.
The absentees are Marcão and Miguel Ángel Sierra, both injured. A separate [2] report also lists Sierra as absent without specifying the reason, so the nature of his problem is not clear from the input. With Sierra out, the right wing is the one place where there is a genuine selection question.
The spine of the side is not in doubt. [3] notes that goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, Suazo and Agoumé have played every league minute this season. Juan Iglesias has also been a regular at left-back, with 881 league minutes so far.
What the cup tie told us
Sevilla’s 3-0 win over Sporting de Hortaleza in the first round of the Copa del Rey was as much about rotation as the scoreline. According to [4], García Plaza changed the side heavily, handed three academy players their debuts, and received goals from Robbie Ure, Peque and Rubén Vargas. The coach said the team must now bring full intensity to Getafe to repeat the form shown in the cup.
Two individual stories stand out. Vargas started on the left wing and scored the third goal, [2] reports, ending a goal drought of almost a year. He has recovered from knee problems and is expected to compete with Chidera Ejuke for the right-wing place while Sierra is unavailable. That is also a rumour, but it frames the likeliest selection debate.
In goal, Fran González started instead of Vlachodimos, after the coach had said he would be the cup goalkeeper, as [5] explains. It was his first official start and possibly his professional debut. Because Vlachodimos was simply rested, there is no suggestion of a change in the league pecking order.
Form and the shape of the season
Sevilla arrive in sixth place in La Liga with 17 points from ten matches: five wins, two draws and three defeats, with 16 goals scored and 16 conceded. That balanced goal difference describes a team that is competitive but not yet dominant.
The recent results are mixed. A 1-0 away win at Deportivo La Coruña on 16 September was followed by a 1-3 home defeat to Barcelona and a 3-3 draw at Levante. Then came a 1-4 loss at Real Madrid on 18 October. The response was a 2-0 home win over Osasuna on 26 October. [3] ties that win to a much stronger performance than in the previous meeting at El Sadar, though the article’s confidence on that comparison is modest.
The goals are widely shared. Isaac Romero leads the league scoring with three, and the team has had twelve different scorers in ten matches. That spread is a strength, because no single injury removes the attack. It also means there is no obvious reference point the opposition can plan around.
What it means
Sixth place and 17 points put Sevilla in a healthy position, but a 16-16 goal difference shows how thin the margin is. A win at Getafe would extend the recovery that began against Osasuna after the heavy defeat in Madrid. A slip would turn that win into an isolated result in a run of two wins, two defeats and a draw.
The form line says Sevilla are better at home than their goal difference suggests, and they have won on the road at Deportivo. They also conceded four at Real Madrid and drew 3-3 at Levante, so the defence is not airtight. The return of Salas, Suazo and Agoumé should add stability to a back line that has been stretched.
The site’s forecast reflects that mix. It gives Getafe 25.0%, a draw 30.0% and a Sevilla win 45.0%, with a predicted score of 1-2. The fixture asks two questions: whether the rested players restore intensity, and whether Vargas or Ejuke can fill the gap on the right. If both answers are yes, the forecast away win is plausible; if not, the draw at 30% is a real risk.
Sources
- Marca: Kike Salas, Suazo, Agoumé y Stassin, en la lista de 24 para visitar al Getafe marca.com ↩
- Marca: Vargas quiere subirse al carro marca.com ↩
- Marca: El equilibrio perfecto entre la base y los fichajes del Sevilla marca.com ↩
- Marca: Luis García Plaza: "La actitud de los chicos ha sido ejemplar" marca.com ↩
- Marca: Fran González, el portero de la Copa marca.com ↩
