Preview: Almeria vs. Real Sociedad - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Sociedad will be bidding to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they travel to basement side Almeria on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors are currently seventh in the La Liga table, boasting 19 points from their opening 12 matches, while Almeria are bottom, picking up just three points from their first 12 games of the campaign.

Match preview

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Almeria are still waiting for their first La Liga win of the campaign, with a tough start seeing them pick up just three points from their first 12 matches, which has left them rooted to the bottom of the division.

La Union have conceded a league-high 32 times, which is a concern, and they are currently on a run of four straight defeats in Spain's top flight, losing to Athletic Bilbao, Girona, Las Palmas and Alaves.

Gaizka Garitano's side did manage to beat Talavera in the Copa del Rey at the end of October to advance to the second round, but they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Alaves in the league last weekend, with their wait for their first league success of the campaign continuing.

Almeria finished 17th in La Liga last season on their return to the top level, narrowly avoiding relegation on the final matchday, and they are now seemingly facing a huge battle to stay up this term.

UDA lost both league games against Real Sociedad last season, including a 2-0 defeat in the corresponding clash, with their last success over the Basque team coming in September 2014.

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Real Sociedad, meanwhile, will enter this contest off the back of a 3-1 success over Benfica in the Champions League, which saw them book their spot in the knockout round of the competition.

Imanol Alguacil's side are at the top of Group D with 10 points, seven clear of third-placed Red Bull Salzburg, so their qualification has already been secured with two games to spare.

Real Sociedad have found it difficult to show consistency in the league this season, though, boasting a record of five wins, four draws and three defeats from 12 matches to collect 19 points, which has left them in seventh position in the table.

The White and Blues are already six points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, who have a game in hand, so it will seemingly be a tough task to finish in the Champions League positions this season.

Real Sociedad suffered a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the league last weekend, with their last success in Spain's top flight proving to be a 1-0 victory over Mallorca on October 21.

Team News

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Almeria will again be without the services of Ibrahima Kone, Luis Suarez, Marc Pubill and Martin Svidersky through injury, while Alex Centelles remains a doubt due to a muscular problem.

Head coach Garitano is expected to make changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Alaves last time out, with Sergio Arribas and Adri Embarba both likely to come into the XI.

Leo Baptistao should again be given the nod in the final third of the field, with Largie Ramazani and Lucas Robertone also set to feature in the first XI once again.

As for Real Sociedad, Hamari Traore, Jon Pacheco, Andre Silva, Kieran Tierney and Martin Merquelanz will miss the contest due to injury problems.

Meanwhile, Igor Zubeldia and Brais Mendez are both suspended due to the yellow cards that they picked up in the narrow loss to Barcelona last time out.

Alvaro Odriozola could come into the back four, while Aritz Elustondo is also expected to start due to the defensive absences; Mendez's unavailability is also expected to open the door for Benat Turrientes to feature in central midfield on Saturday afternoon.

Almeria possible starting lineup:

Maximiano; Mendes, Chumi, Gonzalez, Akieme; Lopy, Robertone; Arribas, Embarba, Ramazani; Baptistao

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:

Remiro; Odriozola, Elustondo, Le Normand, Munoz; Turrientes, Merino, Zubimendi; Kubo, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea

We say: Almeria 0-2 Real Sociedad

Almeria are a very, very difficult team to back, and we are finding it tough to predict anything other than an away win here. Almeria will be the fresher of the two teams, but Real Sociedad should have enough quality to secure all three points this weekend against statistically the worst side in the division.

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