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Shengelia back at visitors

Sevilla are very strong at home, and Laboral have a hard time in away matches, as confirmed in their last two matches, read two defeats, one of which eliminated them from Europe

Sevilla are confirming their very good form. We could see it in the away duels against Real and Barcelona, where they played really well despite getting beat in the end, but they got back by winning at home against Estudiantes and Obradoiro. Those wins helped them keep up with the teams who are fighting to avoid the relegation zone. Coach Casimiro confirmed their progress:

- It's all a result of desire, hard work and sacrifice of my players. Everything I've drawn, they've played on the court.

No need to point out how much progress Sevilla made. Their defense improved, first of all, but the center Hernangomez pointed out something else: 

- It's much more fun to play with Casimiro. The ball is going around much faster, we can easily find the player who's best placed, and we've become a much better team thanks to our coach.

The atmosphere is the key, because in the first part of the season when Roth was leading them, you could feel the melancholy, heartlessness in the way every player moved on the court. Casimiro got rid of that, and Sevilla are now playing to stay in the league. Today's match against Laboral could be the key in doing that.

- We have to be focused in the defense again because they're a very fast and offensively talented team. We know they'll want to make up for getting eliminated from Europe by beating us, but we expect a full arena, and we can't let all those fans down - Casimiro made it clear.

Laboral definitely can't be happy with their last week. First Canarias embarrassed them in the championship by beating them by 35, then they gambled away their chance to play the Europe playoff by losing to Malaga. Again, the defense was the key, they conceded 93 points, and that's no way to get a win in an away match. What's interesting is that Laboral conceded over 80 points in seven out of the last nine duels, and in five out of six over 89 points. The problem is very obvious, but coach Navarro didn't even mention it after that duel:

- We were stiff in the offense, missed too many shots, so even our good rebounds couldn't help. I can't complain about my team's providing effort, but we simply crossed path with a better opponent, and we got eliminated. 

A pretty weird conclusion from a coach whose team routinely concede over 90 points in away matches. Navarro subjected everything to the running led by Adams and James, and that actually works when they play at home, but they've got big problems in the away matches because they can't defend themselves, and there's no room for creating fastbacks. 

Today's match against Sevilla will be very interesting because Sevilla can match them with rebounds, and they're very strong at home. Laboral could have a hard time again.

Let's mention that Shengelia gets to play today, after finishing his suspension from the last five championship matches. He'll definitely be a big reinforcement. The previously injured Bertans is out for the rest of the season, so the club started looking for his substitute. They haven't been successful in that so far, so they'll have to go and face Sevilla with what they've got right now.

Sevilla have been doing very well lately to get very close to beating Real and Barca away, on top of good performances home. It is very important for this bet that they scored over 80 points in 7 out of the last 8 games, while recording an under only against the slow-paced Estudiantes, despite winning that game too. Laboral are much faster and will give Sevilla's good offensive end a lot of room. Maybe even more importantly, Laboral conceded over 89 points in 5 out of the last 6 games, which clearly suggests there's trouble on the offensive end. Coach Navarro isn't backing down from running even though that doesn't turn out well in away games. I am personally more inclined to believe in Sevilla's win and I expect a very fast-paced game and a lot of point. Over at home team seems like that best choice.