Table-topping Real Sociedad will be looking to continue their impressive start to the 2020-21 campaign when they welcome Granada to San Sebastian on Sunday afternoon.
Imanol Alguacil's side are the early leaders in La Liga with 17 points to show from their eight matches, while Granada occupy sixth position, having also made a strong start to the season.
Match preview
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Sociedad's form this season has been excellent, winning five of their eight La Liga matches to top the table, while they are the leading scorers with 18 and have also conceded just four times.
The Basque outfit are currently on a run of four straight league victories, including back-to-back 4-1 wins over Huesca and Celta Vigo, while they have also beaten Getafe and Real Betis 3-0 since the start of last month.
Sociedad's domestic form is even more impressive considering that they have already played three times in the Europa League this term, picking up two wins, including a 1-0 home success over AZ on Thursday night.
La Real finished sixth in La Liga last term and have not actually claimed a top-four spot since 2012-13; the early indications are that Alguacil's side could seriously challenge for a Champions League position this season, though, and a win this weekend would leave them in an excellent spot ahead of the international break.
David Silva's influence on Sociedad has been excellent since arriving on a free transfer, while Mikel Oyarzabal has also been in strong form, already scoring five times in eight league appearances.
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Granada, meanwhile, were also in Europa League action on Thursday night, moving onto seven points in their section courtesy of a 2-0 victory away to Omonia Nicosia.
Like Sociedad, Granada's league form has also been strong, collecting eight points from their last four matches to sit sixth in the table, just three points behind their opponents this weekend.
A record of four wins, two draws and one loss from seven domestic matches represents an excellent start, and Diego Martinez's will be eyeing another positive result on Saturday afternoon.
El Grana impressively finished seventh in La Liga last term on their return to this level, and it would be some story if they pushed towards the Champions League positions in 2020-21.
The Red and Whites actually recorded a 3-2 victory over Sociedad when the two teams last met in July, but La Real have won five of their last six encounters in Spain's top flight.
Real Sociedad La Liga form: WLWWWW
Real Sociedad form (all competitions): WWWLWW
Granada La Liga form: WLDWWD
Granada form (all competitions): WWWDDW
Team News
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Sociedad will again be without the services of Luca Sangalli, Igor Zubeldia and Asier Illarramendi through injury, while Andoni Gorosabel remains a doubt for the Basque club.
Head coach Alguacil is expected to make changes from the side that started against AZ in the Europa League, with Willian Jose and Martin Zubimendi in line to return to the XI.
Portu and Oyarzabal will keep their spots in attacking positions, though, while David Silva is again expected to line up as an advanced midfielder for the Basque club.
As for Granada, Neyder Lozano, Quini and Victor Diaz are all still injured, while Jesus Vallejo and Antonio Puertas will both miss out following recent positive coronavirus tests.
Roberto Soldado is also expected to miss out as he recovers from coronavirus, meaning that Kenedy and Luis Suarez should feature alongside Jorge Molina in the final third of the field.
Darwin Machis is also an option in an attacking position, but the number 11 could be rested following Thursday's Europa League clash, while Luis Milla should return in the middle of the park.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Zaldua, Elustondo, Le Normand, Munoz; Merino, Zubimendi, Silva; Portu, Willian Jose, Oyarzabal
Granada possible starting lineup:
Silva; Foulquier, Duarte, Sanchez, Neva; Montoro, Milla, Herrera; Suarez, Molina, Kenedy
We say: Real Sociedad 2-1 Granada
Both teams have been excellent in the early stages of the 2020-21 campaign, and it is shaping up to be a fascinating battle in San Sebastian. Sociedad's league form, in particular, has been brilliant, and we fancy the Basque outfit to pick up another three points on Sunday afternoon.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataData 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 51.71%. A draw had a probability of 26.1% and a win for Granada had a probability of 22.17%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.37%) and 2-1 (9.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.21%), while for a Granada win it was 0-1 (8.13%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Sociedad would win this match.
