Five key stats ahead of Barcelona vs Sevilla | OneFootball

Barcelona are set to take on Sevilla on Sunday, hoping to maintain their excellent run of form and a healthy five-point lead at the top of the table.

Xavi has already promised his troops two days of additional holiday next week if they can secure all three points against Sevilla, which is enough to indicate the importance of this contest.

Heading into this game, Barcelona are poised to break the club record for the best defensive performance after ten matches at home. The record is currently held by Pep Guardiola’s 2011/12 Barça, which conceded only two goals in ten home league matches. But under Xavi, Barça have conceded only once in nine matches so far, meaning a clean sheet could do the trick.

Speaking of clean sheets, Barcelona have registered five clean sheets in 10 games since la Liga returned, after the World Cup hiatus. Four of these clean sheets have come in the last five matches in all competitions.

Aside from their excellent defence, Barcelona have an equally impressive record against Sevilla. In fact, the last time Los Nervionenses won against the Catalans in La Liga was back in 2014/15. Barça are since unbeaten against Sevilla in 14 league matches.

Moving on to the players, the youngsters at Barcelona have been the highlight of their campaign so far. Alejandro Balde, for one, has been the breakout star, having established himself as the primary option in the left-back position.

To that end, Balde has registered most assists than any other teenage defender in Europe’s top five leagues – four. He is followed by Malo Gusto, Arnau Martinez and Destiny Udogie, who have registered one assist each.

Along with the left-back, there are two more Barça youngsters in the form of Gavi and Ansu Fati, in the list of top eight youngsters with the most assists in Europe’s top five leagues.

It is not only the youngsters either. Robert Lewandowski, an attacking veteran, has racked up 14 goals in 16 league matches this season, making him the top-scorer in the Spanish top flight. Such an impressive tally means Lewandowski is one of only four players to have scored more than ten goals in their first 16 league matches with Barça, with the others being Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Johan Cruyff and Josep Escola.