Sevilla vs Malaga preview - Injury worries for Sevilla

Sevilla are preparing for the visit of Malaga in less than ideal circumstances.

Their problems in central defence - which stemmed from injuries to new signings Nico Pareja and Daniel Carrico - worsened when Fabricio Fazio sprained his ankle last weekend against Levante and was ruled out of action for six weeks.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Kondogbia bought out his own contract in the middle of the week in order to join Monaco, leaving Unai Emery's side even more vulnerable in defensive midfield, following the earlier departure of Gary Medel to Cardiff.

Juan Cala and Fernando Navarro are likely to start in central defence against Malaga, while Stephane Mbia, who joined on loan from QPR, could make his first appearance for the club.

Emery has declared that the Cameroon midfielder is fit and ready to play, but could not confirm whether or not he would be in the starting line-up against Malaga.

Both sides go into the game on Sunday following disappointing starts in the Primera Division.

Sevilla lost 3-1 to Atletico Madrid in their first game, while their second, away to Levante, ended goalless.

Relief came in the form of a 5-0 win at Slask Wroclaw on Thursday, which allowed the club to reach the Europa League group stages.

"The win came at the right time because it has given us confidence," Emery told a press conference.

"But right now we are only thinking about Malaga."

He also explained there were two sides to Bernd Schuster's Malaga team, who lost both of their league games 1-0, to Valencia and Barcelona respectively.

"We are up against a good team, but I think we've seen two different Malagas, one which is very organised at the back, and another that has had problems in attack," said Emery.

"We are preparing for the game with that difference in mind."

Malaga defender Sergio Sanchez, who spent two seasons at Sevilla between 2009 and 2011, underlined the importance of his side finally getting points on the board at the Sanchez Pizjuan, especially because it is a derby match:

Quoted by the club's official website, he said: "There's always more pressure in derby matches as both teams know how much it means to the fans, and we always want to give them a good game.

"Sunday's match is important for us, against difficult opponents at a tough ground, and we need to earn our first points of the season. A victory this weekend would be a real morale boost for the team."

He also admitted his side needed to take more initiative in games and seek to create more chances, adding: "We need to step up our attack, as we want to be the team in control of the ball throughout each match.

"It's all about finding the right balance, so we'll focus on increasing our attack this weekend and maintain our tight defence.

"Our coach's mentality is always focused on the attack, but we knew that we'd have to make a few changes to our game play to compete against Barcelona.

"From now on, the coach wants us to step up our attacking display and maintain ball possession as much as possible, so that's our aim this weekend."

Malaga's latest signing, striker Mounir El Hamdaoui, could make his debut.