Sevilla: concedes 10 goals in 3 games ahead of Osasuna

Sevilla head into next Monday’s game at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán with one main task: stop the defensive leak. The team have conceded 10 goals in their last three matchdays and managed just 1 point out of 9 against Barcelona, Levante and Real Madrid. That leaves them on 16 goals conceded in the league so far, their worst defensive record since 2013-14, according to MARCA.

The drop-off is sharp compared to the start of the season. In the first six league games, Sevilla conceded only six and kept two clean sheets in a row. The recent run tells a different story: three goals against Barcelona, three more at the Ciutat de València and four at the Santiago Bernabéu.

What stands out is that the problems have come with a settled back line: Juan Iglesias, Andrés Castrín, Kike Salas and Gabriel Suazo. The Chilean full-back is one of three players who have appeared in every match so far (alongside Odysseas Vlachodimos and Lucien Agoumé), while the other right-back only rested in the final minutes of the Bernabéu game.

With a key stretch coming up, Suazo pushed for more decisive defending. “We need to improve by being more forceful when the ball is in a doubtful area and make sure the move ends far away,” he said this Thursday, adding that the team “shouldn’t be conceding that many goals.” The schedule ahead also includes Getafe and Alavés after Osasuna.