Anthony Martial: Sevilla’s missing piece?
By Jim James
Yesterday, Anthony Martial was announced to join Sevilla on loan from Manchester United. To be honest, the situation for the former Monaco man wasn’t in the slightest bit favorable. He is one of the many people whose minutes have been slashed since the dream return of Cristiano Ronaldo last August. However, a loan move to Sevilla, a team in a better situation than United, let’s be honest. 2nd in La Liga, and not too far behind league leaders Real Madrid. The dressing room situation is pretty good, and especially for Martial, is infinitely better for him than Man U. Today I’m going to be making my case as to why Anthony Martial could push Sevilla to their first La Liga since 1946.
Firstly, Anthony Martial will be eager and keen to show his skill after finally getting some game time, I predict that it will be like a movie we saw last year; Jesse Lingard at West Ham. He got West Ham to the Europa League, and refound form he hadn’t showed in years at any level. That is what is going to happen here.
Second, Anthony Martial is going to fill in one of Sevilla’s biggest voids. Attack. Despite being 2nd in La Liga and having the least amount of goals conceded in the League, they have less goals than even 10th place Valencia. They have 13 less goals than league leaders Real Madrid, obviously identifying attack as an issue. If you think that Martial never proved himself as a good scorer at Man Utd, think again. In 32 games in 2019-20, he scored 17 Premier League goals. We know Sevilla need goals, we know Martial can bring them, why shouldn’t he be able to do it?
How might he do it?
Well, let’s look at Sevilla’s remaining La Liga games this season and look at what Martial would do
Osasuna vs Sevilla
1-3 W by Sevilla, a debut goal off the bench for Martial
Sevilla vs Elche
1-0 W by Sevilla, assist by Martial
Espanyol vs Sevilla
0-2 W by Sevilla, 1 goal by Martial
Sevilla vs Betis
1-1 D, no goal contributions by Martial
Alaves vs Sevilla
1-2 W by Sevilla, 1 assist by Martial
Rayo vs Sevilla
2-2 D, 1 goal by Martial
Sevilla vs Sociedad
1-0 W by Sevilla, no goal contributions by Martial
Barcelona vs Sevilla
1-1 D, assist by Martial
Sevilla vs Grananda
2-0 W by Sevilla, 2 goals by Martial
Sevilla vs Real Madrid
1-2 L, no goal contributions by Martial
Levante vs Sevilla
0-1 W by Sevilla, 1 goal by Martial
Sevilla vs Cadiz
2-0 W by Sevilla, 1 goal & 1 assist by Martial
Villarreal vs Sevilla
1-0 L, no goal contributions by Martial
Sevilla vs Mallorca
3-0 W by Sevilla, brace by Martial
Atlético Madrid vs Sevilla
2-0 L, no goal contributions by Martial
Sevilla vs Athletic Club
1-0 W by Sevilla, 1 assist by Martial
33 Points
10 Wins
3 Draws
3 Losses
Total of 79 Points
7 Goals by Martial
5 Assists by Martial
19 Points gained by Martial goal contributions
That is my prediction, and even though 79 points wouldn’t be enough to win La Liga in previous seasons, this is a weaker La Liga now, and it could very well be enough. It’s all thanks to Anthony Martial. I’m Jim James, until next time.