Preview: Union SG vs Real Sociedad - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Sociedad will be bidding to return to winning ways in the Europa League when they continue their league stage campaign away to Union SG on Thursday evening.

The visitors opened their European challenge with a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, while Union SG recorded a 3-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen in their first match of the 2026-27 competition.

Match preview

Union SG lost to Bodo/Glimt in the third qualifying round of this season's Champions League, which saw them drop into the Europa League, and the Belgian outfit are competing at this level for the first time since 2024-25, when they reached the knockout round playoffs before losing to Ajax.

The Old Lady recorded a 3-0 win over Viktoria Plzen in their opening match of this season's Europa League, and they will now be looking to move onto six points in the section.

David Hubert's side will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Leuven, which has left them in fourth spot in Belgium's top flight, picking up 20 points from eight matches.

Union SG are unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions, recording six wins in the process.

Real Sociedad, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna in Spain's top flight, which has left them in sixth spot in the table on 13 points.

The Basque outfit had a disappointing start to their 2026-27 Europa League league stage, suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth, so they are under pressure to bounce back here.

The White and Blues finished down in 10th spot in Spain's top flight last season, but they secured qualification for the Europa League courtesy of their Copa del Rey success.

Pellegrino Matarazzo's side will enter this match off the back of successive wins, and it would be a big blow if they were to lose another European game here.

Real Sociedad reached the last-16 stage of the Europa League in their last participation in the tournament in 2024-25, while they have won 37, drawn 19 and lost 27 of their 83 previous matches in this competition throughout history.

Union SG Europa League form:

Union SG form (all competitions):

Real Sociedad Europa League form:

Real Sociedad form (all competitions):

Team News

Union SG will be without the services of Kevin Mac Allister, Ross Sykes, Adem Zorgane, Ondrej Kricfaulusi, Rob Schoofs, Kevin Rodrigues and Ilan Hurtevent for Thursday's match through injury.

Meanwhile, Raul Florucz, who is the team's leading goalscorer this season with six in all competitions, is unavailable for selection through suspension.

Relebohile Mofokeng has scored four times in 10 appearances this season, and there should be another spot in the final third of the field for the 21-year-old.

As for Real Sociedad, Alvaro Odriozola and Jon Aramburu are out of the match through injury, but the visitors are otherwise in strong shape for the European fixture.

Luka Sucic is actually the team's leading goalscorer this season, finding the back of the net on three occasions, and the 24-year-old is set to be a notable starter.

Mikel Oyarzabal is incredibly still waiting for his first goal of the campaign, but the Spain international will again feature in the final third of the field for La Real.

Union SG possible starting lineup:

Koffi; Havenaar, Sylla, Kricfalusi; Van De Perre; Patris, Zeneli, Olaru, Guilherme Smith; Mofokeng, Biondic

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:

Marrero; Fort, Martin, Sarr, Gomez; Turrientes, Herrera, Sucic; Guedes, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea

We say: Union SG 2-2 Real Sociedad

Union SG have been excellent in the early stages of the campaign, and we came close to backing a narrow home win, but Real Sociedad have enough about them to claim a point here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.