Sevilla welcome Valencia to the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán on 11 September 2026 for La Liga Matchday 5, arriving in states that could hardly be more different. Seventh on seven points from four matches, Sevilla have been convincing enough at home, whereas Valencia sit bottom with one point and a goal difference of minus eight, their season threatening to unravel after a 0-5 hammering by Barcelona on 6 September.
Corberán has not lost to Sevilla as Valencia manager, a small sample but one he will not let his squad forget and Luis García Plaza faces that record in his first meeting with Corberán having taken charge on 24 March 2026 in place of Matías Almeyda.
Sevilla's last four league outings produced wins over Rayo Vallecano (2-1 on 15 August) and Athletic Bilbao (3-1 on 22 August), a 1-3 home defeat to Atlético Madrid on 29 August and a 1-1 draw at Espanyol on 6 September. Valencia's sequence has been grimmer: a 0-0 draw at Celta Vigo on 22 August, then defeats to Real Betis (0-1), Deportivo La Coruña (1-3) and Barcelona (0-5).
Sevilla lose Arouna Sangante to suspension and Rubén Vargas to a knee and ankle injury, whereas Valencia's situation is in another category entirely. Nine players are unavailable: Umar Sadiq (hamstring), Guido Rodríguez (thigh), Justin de Haas (ankle), Luis Rioja (ankle), Mouctar Diakhaby (muscular), José Copete (knee and ankle), Diego López and Sergi Canós (both long term ACL) and Dimitri Foulquier. With the right side of his back four stripped of first choice cover, Corberán will have to assemble a defence from whatever remains.
Sevilla build on quick transitions and set piece delivery at home and, with Romero through the middle, they will look to expose Valencia's back line through Ejuke's runs in behind on the right, with Gabriel Suazo's versatility allowing them to maintain cover while pushing forward. Valencia will surrender possession and defend in a low block, relying on Danjuma, the only player in their side likely to create something in transition, to punish Sevilla when they push numbers forward. Javi Guerra will need to win second balls and press the Sevilla pivot to disrupt build-up play, while Stole Dimitrievski faces a heavy workload in goal. The problem for Corberán is that a compact shape requires discipline for ninety minutes and with so many bodies missing, that discipline may not survive an early goal against them. The battles worth watching are Ejuke against whichever full back Corberán can field on the right and Romero against a centre back pairing assembled from necessity rather than design.
Valencia have not lost to Sevilla in their last six league meetings and Corberán will have studied that run closely. Six league games without a defeat against Sevilla is the kind of number that survives a form gap and it is grounded enough in evidence that his players will believe it too.
Sevilla have scored from set pieces at home already this season and a back line assembled from available parts rather than first choice selections will struggle to organise at corners and free kicks. The bigger question for Corberán is whether his side can maintain shape for the full ninety minutes on such thin resources. Valencia will surrender possession and hunt for transitions and they have found space in behind Sevilla in previous meetings, making any lapse in the second half a genuine risk rather than a theoretical one.
We're going with 2-2. Valencia have not lost this fixture in six league meetings and Corberán's counter attacking approach is specifically designed to punish a Sevilla side that will be pushing for a winner late on. With nine players out, the visitors will park deep and wait and everything the head to head record suggests points to them finding a way back into it.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
