Sevilla heads to the RCDE Stadium on Sunday at 21:00 with Youssouf Fofana available and Luis García Plaza considering changes after the 1-3 loss to Atlético de Madrid. The match against Espanyol arrives with the first real chance to reset the mood after Sevilla’s start to the league season.
That search interest makes sense because the details are immediate: Sevilla have taken 6 points from their first three league matches, while Espanyol are trying to halt a run of two straight defeats. Sevilla beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 and Athletic de Bilbao 3-1 before the setback against Atlético, so the visit to Barcelona sits between calm and doubt, with both results still fresh in the background.
Fofana is the latest arrival and had been training alone recently, which leaves his availability notable even if he does not start. Luis García Plaza may also turn to Giorgi Kochorashvili, Félix Correia and Lucas Stassin at the RCDE Stadium, though the scale of the changes is still the open question. Correia has played all season, Stassin has taken part less, and Ruben Vargas remains out because of a problem in the external meniscus of his right leg.
Espanyol, meanwhile, comes in after losses to Real Madrid by 2-1 and Real Sociedad by 2-1, and Manolo González cannot count on Kike García or Javi Puado because of injury. Bryan Zaragoza is likely to make his debut for Espanyol in this round, which gives the home side one more new piece in a match that already has enough moving parts.
The fixture also carries a sharper edge for Ramón Rodríguez, known as Monchi, now Espanyol’s director general deportivo. He spent almost three decades linked to Sevilla as a player, delegate and sporting director, and that history gives the visit a different weight from an ordinary league trip. The numbers at the RCDE Stadium lean Sevilla’s way too: in the last five visits, they have won three, drawn one and lost one, while Espanyol’s only home win in that span came in the 2025-26 season by 2-1.
So the next thing to watch is not just the kickoff, but how much Luis García Plaza changes a side that is already adjusting around Fofana and Vargas. If Sevilla lean into those possible changes, Sunday should tell quickly whether the 6-point start was a platform or just a brief pause before the season hardens.
