Real Sociedad will be bidding to return to winning ways in La Liga when they welcome Real Valladolid to San Sebastian on Sunday night.
The home side will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with the champions Real Madrid at Bernabeu, while struggling Real Valladolid recorded a 1-0 victory over Valencia last time out.
Match preview
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Real Sociedad saw a five-game winning run in La Liga come to an end last weekend, but it will still go down as an excellent result, with the team holding Real Madrid to a goalless draw in the Spanish capital.
Imanol Alguacil's side are now unbeaten in the league since the end of October, with the impressive run of form leaving them comfortably inside the top four, collecting 39 points from their opening 19 games of the season to occupy third position.
The Basque outfit are five points clear of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid and eight ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal, and they will fancy their chances of putting more wins on the board in the coming weeks, with fixtures against Espanyol, Celta Vigo and Valencia before the end of the month.
Real Sociedad have also qualified for the knockout round of the Europa League, but their chances of winning the Copa del Rey were ended at the end of January, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona at Camp Nou.
The White and Blues have actually been stronger on their travels than at home this season, although they have still managed to collect 17 points from nine matches in front of their own supporters.
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Real Valladolid, meanwhile, have the third-worst away record in La Liga this season, picking up just four points from nine matches, with their form on the road a huge contributor to their struggles.
The White and Violets are currently 17th in the table, picking up only 20 points from their 19 matches, which has left them just one point clear of 18th-placed Cadiz heading into the next set of fixtures.
Pacheta's side did manage to pick up a huge three points against Valencia last time out, though, with Cyle Larin netting the winner in the 90th minute of the contest.
The success moved Real Valladolid out of the bottom three, and they will now be looking to build on the result, with the team bidding to consolidate back at this level after their promotion.
Pucelanos actually recorded a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the reverse match earlier this season, but they have not managed to overcome the Basque side on their travels since December 2018.
Team News
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Real Sociedad still have a lengthy injury list, with Artiz Elustondo, David Silva, Mohamed Ali-Cho, Andoni Gorosabel, Mikel Merino, Ander Guevara all definitely out of this contest.
Meanwhile, Jon Pacheco, Alex Sola and Martin Merquelanz remain major doubts, so Arrasate has far from a full squad available to him at the moment.
As a result, it could be a case of same again in terms of the XI that started against Real Madrid last time out, with Mikel Oyarzabal and Takefusa Kubo likely to support Alexander Sorloth in the final third of the field.
As for Real Valladolid, the yellow card that Roque Mesa picked up in the 1-0 victory over Valencia last time out will rule him out of this weekend's contest.
Kenedy is out until early March with a tendon problem, while Sergio Escudero remains a major doubt for the visitors, as the defender battles to overcome a muscular issue.
There might be just two changes to the side that started the win over Valencia last time out, with Ivan Fresneda potentially taking the place of Lucas Rosa on the right side of the defence, while Monchu could come into the midfield as the replacement for the suspended Mesa.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Elustondo, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Munoz; Mendez, Zubimendi, Illarramendi; Oyarzabal, Sorloth, Kubo
Real Valladolid possible starting lineup:
Masip; Fresneda, Fernandez, Sanchez, Olaza; Perez, Monchu, Aguado; Plano, Leon, Machis
We say: Real Sociedad 1-0 Real Valladolid
Real Valladolid will certainly have been boosted by their huge win over Valencia last time out, but Real Sociedad have been on an excellent run of form. The home side will again be missing some key players, but we are still backing them to return to winning ways in front of their own supporters this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
