Real Zaragoalza

16Jan 2013

Copa Del Rey

Zaragoza and Sevilla meet for the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final at 18:30 this evening and Paul Robinson thinks that Sky Sports One viewers could be in for a feast of goals.

Real Zaragoza are having a relatively decent campaign; 13th in La Liga and through to the last eight of the Spanish cup. Inconsistent would be the best way to describe their performances as it's pretty much either win or lose with them, with just one of their 23 matches this season having ended in a draw.

Manolo Jiménez's side overcame Levante in the last round of this competition, winning 1-0 away in the first leg and then wrapping things up 2-0 in the second. Their matches are usually a touch more prolific than that though as in the league they have been averaging 2.58 goals per 90 minutes this term and that clean sheet against Levante was their first at home since October.

Sevilla are the scourge of many punters this season as they seem to win when not expected and flop when they look like a good thing to get the victory. They are on a bad run at present though, losing four of their last five, with only a win over Osasuna as comfort.

As far as the goals go, their matches have been averaging 2.68 each time in La Liga thus far, with 10 of their 19 going over 2.5. Those figures are significantly boosted away from home though as eight of their last nine on the road have had three goals or more.

I appreciate that this is the first leg of two so it could be cagey, but Sevilla won the first leg of their last round by five goals to nil at Mallorca. All things considered, under 2.5 goals seems a touch short to me at around the 1.77 mark, and that's why I'm making it my lay of the day.