Real Sociedad head into Thursday's fixture with Athletic Bilbao looking to end a six-match winless streak in La Liga.
Meanwhile, Athletic welcome the former leaders to the San Mames Stadium sitting in mid-table after recording just one victory over the same period.
Match preview
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One of the main talking points during the early weeks of the season was whether Sociedad were capable of maintaining a title bid at a time when Real Madrid and Barcelona were struggling for consistency.
While the two giants of the division have gradually improved over time, Sociedad have lost all momentum at an alarming rate, picking up just three points from their last six matches.
Three successive defeats have been recorded against Barcelona, Levante and new frontrunners Atletico Madrid, leaving Txuri-urdinak six points adrift of the latter.
Months after receiving widespread credit, Imanol Alguacil now finds himself under pressure to oversee a change in fortunes over the coming weeks.
Sociedad have not managed to score a second-half goal in six league outings, a streak which must end sooner rather than later if they wish to stay in contention for a Champions League spot.
Athletic have spent much of their season competing at the wrong end of the table with only four points from two matches seeing them put some distance between themselves and the bottom three.
Like his counterpart in the dugout, Gaizka Garitano has been the target for criticism of late, and it has naturally led to speculation regarding his position.
With three home matches to come in succession, Garitano will hope that seeing off Huesca and claiming a draw at Villarreal represents the start of an improved 2021.
However, he requires much more from his attack with long-serving attacker Inaki Williams still topping the goalscoring charts with just three strikes.
Athletic Bilbao La Liga form: DLDLWD
Real Sociedad La Liga form: DDDLLL
Real Sociedad form (all competitions): DDDLLL
Team News
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Williams is expected to retain his place in the final third, despite the return of Asier Villalibre.
Alex Berenguer is likely to feature on the left flank for Athletic after overcoming a minor injury.
Sociedad boss Alguacil could hand a recall to Alexander Isak, potentially at the expense of Willian Jose.
Martin Merquelanz is also an option in the final third after dropping down to the substitutes' bench for the game against Atletico.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Capa, Alvarez, Martinez, Berchiche; Vencedor, Vesga; Marcos, Muniain, Berengeur; Williams
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Normand, Monreal; Silva, Zubimendi, Merino; Porto, Isak, Oyarzabal
We say: Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Real Sociedad
With neither side having produced their best form of late, we do not expect this fixture to live up to its potential. In what may be a nervy affair to end 2021, a low-scoring fixture between two well-matched sides could play out at the San Mames Stadium.
Top betting tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Real Sociedad win with a probability of 40.48%. A win for Athletic Bilbao had a probability of 31% and a draw had a probability of 28.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.1%) and 0-2 (7.84%). The likeliest Athletic Bilbao win was 1-0 (10.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.23%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Real Sociedad in this match.
