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

Valencia will look to record a second straight home win when they welcome Real Sociedad to Mestalla for Wednesday's La Liga fixture.

The visitors, meanwhile, are hoping to claim back-to-back victories after getting the better of Gefate in Sunday's seven-goal thriller.

Match preview

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After leading Valencia to safety last season, Ruben Baraja has enjoyed a promising start to his first full season as Valencia boss, having seen his side take 10 points from their opening six matches to leave them in sixth position in the La Liga table.

Los Che got up and running with successive victories over Europa League winners Sevilla and newly-promoted Las Palmas, before their growing momentum was halted by back-to-back defeats against Osasuna and Alaves.

However, they bounced back in style against Atletico Madrid on matchday five, recording a 3-0 home win to condemn Diego Simeone's side to their first defeat of the season.

Valencia subsequently spurned the opportunity to claim back-to-back victories for the second time this season, giving up a lead on two occasions in Saturday's away meeting with Almeria after a Sergio Arribas brace cancelled out strikes from Diego Lopez and Javi Guerra to ensure that the contest finished in a 2-2 draw.

They will now turn their attention to a difficult home fixture against Real Sociedad, and the hosts will be hopeful about their chances of claiming a positive result after avoiding defeat in their last six head-to-head meetings at Mestalla (W2, D4).

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Looking to replicate last season's fourth-placed finish, Real Sociedad have experienced mixed results in the opening stages of the 2023-24 season.

After beginning the campaign with three consecutive draws, Imanol Alguacil's side finally clinched maximum points on matchday four courtesy of an entertaining 5-3 home win over newly-promoted Granada.

As it proved, Real Sociedad were unable to claim a victory in their next two matches against top-quality opposition, losing 2-1 against Real Madrid in the league and drawing 1-1 with Inter Milan in their Champions League opener despite taking the lead in both of those contests.

Having failed to win four competitive games where they scored the first goal this season, Real Sociedad threatened to give up another lead at the weekend when Getafe established a 2-1 advantage after Take Kubo opened the scoring, but a second-half brace from Mikel Oyarzabal and a Brais Mendez strike secured all three points, even though Juanmi Latasa pulled a goal back late on.

Buoyed from recording a 4-3 win in front of their own supporters, Real Sociedad will now head on their travels, where they will attempt to claim their first away win of the season.

Team News

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Valencia are still unable to call upon the injured quartet of Dimitri Foulquier, Jesus Vazquez, Sergi Canos and Roman Yaremchuk.

After missing the last three matches through injury, Gabriel Paulista is likely to return to the side for Wednesday's home fixture.

Hugo Duro will continue to lead the line for the hosts, and he will be looking to add to the three league goals that he has scored this season.

As for the visitors, Jon Pacheco could replace Igor Zubeldia, who is set to miss out after being forced off with an ankle injury in Sunday's win over Getafe.

Arsen Zakharyan is expected to be absent for a second straight game due to illness, while Aritz Elustondo is a doubt for the midweek contest.

After rotating his side at the weekend, Alguacil is expected to recall Kieran Tierney, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and Oyarzabal.

Valencia possible starting lineup:

Mamardashvili; Correia, Paulista, Diakhaby, Gaya; Pepelu, Guerra; Perez, Almeida, Lopez; Duro

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:

Remiro; Traore, Pacheco, Le Normand, Tierney; Mendez, Zubimendi, Merino; Kubo, Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal

We say: Valencia 2-2 Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad will be desperate to pick up their first away victory of the season, but after failing to win any of their last six away meetings with Valencia, we think that they will have to settle for a share of the spoils.

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