Two teams battling for top-four finishes in Spain's top flight will lock horns on Tuesday evening, with Real Betis welcoming Real Sociedad to Estadio Benito Villamarin.
The home side are currently fifth in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Real Sociedad, who are in pole position to secure a spot in the Champions League for next season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Real Betis will enter this match off the back of a damaging 3-2 loss at Osasuna on Saturday, which proved to be their third defeat in their last four matches in Spain's top flight.
The disappointing run of form has come at the worst possible stage of the campaign, with Manuel Pellegrini's side dropping six points behind fourth-placed Real Sociedad ahead of Tuesday's contest.
A win in this match would put the Seville giants firmly in the race for a top-four spot, but a defeat would allow Real Sociedad to move nine points clear of them, which is a huge gap to make up at this stage of the season.
It has been a disappointing few weeks for the Green and Whites, having also been thumped 5-1 by Manchester United in the last-16 stage of the Europa League, while they have only been victorious in two of their last nine games in all competitions.
Pellegrini's side have been relatively strong in front of their own fans this season, picking up 27 points from 15 matches, but they will be taking on a Real Sociedad outfit with the fourth-best away record, having collected 26 points from 15 matches on their travels.
© Reuters
Real Sociedad, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, with Imanol Alguacil's side coming from behind to secure a vital three points in their top-four push.
The Basque outfit fell behind in the 57th minute of the contest, but Alexander Sorloth levelled the scores two minutes later before an own goal from Florian Lejeune in the 81st minute secured all three points.
Alguacil's team boast 54 points from their 30 league games this season, which has left them in fourth, and as mentioned, six points ahead of fifth-placed Real Betis, but sixth-placed Villarreal will have the chance to close the gap to four points when they face Sevilla on Sunday night.
The picture might have changed slightly by the time that this game kicks off, but Real Sociedad will just be concentrating on their own form, and they will be aiming to make it successive wins in Spain's top flight for the first time since the middle of January.
La Real, who last finished fourth in 2012-13, have not actually beaten Real Betis in La Liga since October 2020, and the Green and Whites ran out 2-0 winners in the reverse match earlier this season.
Team News
© Reuters
Real Betis will again be without the services of four players through injury for this contest, with Victor Ruiz, Juanmi, Youssouf Sabaly and Nabil Fekir on the sidelines.
However, the squad will be boosted by the return of Aitor Ruibal, who was suspended for the 3-2 loss to Osasuna on Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Pellegrini is expected to make changes to the side that started the team's last game, with Sergio Canales and Abner potentially coming in for starts, which is likely to lead to Andres Guardado and Juan Miranda dropping down to the bench.
As for Real Sociedad, Diego Rico, Sadiq Umar and Martin Merquelanz missed out through injury against Rayo Vallecano and that will again be the case for Tuesday's contest.
However, the Basque outfit will be boosted by the return of key central defender Robin Le Normand, who served a one-game suspension in the team's last match.
Le Normand should return at the back in place of Jon Pacheco, while there could be a starting role for Asier Illarramendi, who might be introduced to strengthen the midfield.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Montoya, Felipe, Gonzalez, Abner; Rodriguez, Carvalho; Henrique, Canales, Perez; Iglesias
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Elustondo, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Munoz; Silva, Merino, Zubimendi, Illarramendi; Sorloth, Oyarzabal
We say: Real Betis 1-1 Real Sociedad
This has all of the makings of a brilliant match, and it will be fascinating to see what occurs in Seville on Tuesday night. A draw would be a better result for Real Sociedad considering the position of the two sides in the table, and we can see the visitors securing a point for their troubles here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
