Nabil Fekir and Guido Rodríguez, two indisputable starters in Manuel Pellegrini's schemes, are the only Real Betis players warned of a sanction, for having both four yellow cards, so they should take extreme precautions if they play next Tuesday in Valencia against Levante, since if they saw one in that match they would miss the derby against Sevilla FC on January 2 at Benito Villamarín.
Guido Rodríguez, in fact, saw his fifth yellow of the season last Sunday in Granada, although the legal services of Real Betis presented allegations to the Competition Committee and managed to have it nullify it, so he was able to play against Cádiz on Wednesday and continues with four yellow cards. In the Sevilla ranks, the players who are on the verge of suspension due to accumulation of cautions are midfielders Fernando and Gudelj.
Del Cerro will referee the derby
The derby that Real Betis and Sevilla FC will play next Saturday, January 2 at Benito Villamarín (4.15pm) will be refereed by the Madrid referee Carlos del Cerro Grande, according to Radio Sevilla.
This would be the fourth match of the maximum Seville rivalry that the Madrid referee will referee. The previous three, also held at Benito Villamarín, ended with a draw and two Sevilla wins. The first to referee finished 3-3 in April 2013. Pabón, Rubén Castro and Nosa Igiebor scored for the Betics, while Rakitic, twice, and Negredo did it for the Sevilla players.
The second derby for Del Cerro Grande came in the second round of the Copa del Rey in the 2015/16 season. It was in the first leg and Sevilla won 0-2, with goals from Krohn-Dehli and Krychowiak. The third precedent was in the 2016/17 campaign, in a league match where Betis also fell, despite scoring first through Durmisi, as Mercado and Iborra later scored, the first of them offside not indicated (then there was no VAR).