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Villarreal logo
La Liga | Gameweek 37
May 15, 2022 at 6.30pm UK
Estadio El Madrigal
Real Sociedad logo

Villarreal
1 - 2
Real Sociedad

Coquelin (43')
Foyth (68'), Albiol (77'), Lo Celso (90+6'), Jackson (90+11')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Isak (56'), Zubimendi (73')
Zaldua (2'), Isak (82')

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

Sports Mole previews Sunday's La Liga clash between Villarreal and Real Sociedad, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

The battle for sixth place in the La Liga table will heat up on Sunday, as Villarreal welcome Real Sociedad to the Estadio de la Ceramica.

With two games left to play, the visitors currently hold sixth spot with a three-point lead over their opponents, meaning a win would guarantee them a place in European competition next season.


Match preview

Unai Emery in charge of Villarreal in April 2022© Reuters

After rising up through the pack and putting themselves in the conversation for a top-six finish, Villarreal seemingly paid the price for a gruelling Champions League run, as the two legs of their unsuccessful semi-final tie with Liverpool came either side of a disappointing 2-1 defeat to strugglers Alaves in La Liga.

Following their exit from the continental competition, the Yellow Submarine took on Sevilla, and they looked set to see out a 1-0 win thanks to Giovani Lo Celso's late goal, only for the visitors to force a share of the spoils deep into injury time through Jules Kounde.

That saw Unai Emery's men lose ground in the race for continental qualification, but they were then able to make a crucial return to winning ways last time out.

In that game, they thrashed Rayo Vallecano 5-1 on home turf as Alfonso Pedraza hit a brace alongside goals from Juan Foyth, Paco Alcacer and Pau Torres.

That victory saw them remain three points behind Sunday's opponents, and, with a far superior goal difference, Villarreal would climb into the top six with a win at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 5, 2022© Reuters

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad will make the trip looking to stretch that gap and confirm their top-six finish.

After being in the race for Champions League football for large parts of the season, Imanol Alguacil's side experienced a dip in form at a crucial point, going four games without a victory from mid-April to the beginning of May.

Having only picked up two points in that span, La Real looked at risk of dropping out of the top six altogether, but they were able to bounce back to winning ways last time out.

Alguacil's men hosted strugglers Cadiz, and they came out with a dominant 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Alexander Sorloth, Adnan Januzaj and Portu.

With that result keeping Villarreal at bay for the meantime, Real Sociedad will know they still need a result on Sunday to keep themselves in the European places.

Villarreal La Liga form:
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • W

Villarreal form (all competitions):
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • W

Real Sociedad La Liga form:
  • W
  • D
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • W


Team News

Villarreal's Samuel Chukwueze celebrates scoring their first goal with Giovani Lo Celso and teammates on April 12, 2022© Reuters

Villarreal were without key attacking duo Gerard Moreno and Arnaut Danjuma for the Sevilla match, and they could both miss out on Saturday, with Paco Alcacer again set to start up front in their absence.

Following their dominant display, Unai Emery has little reason to make too many changes to his starting XI, with Samu Chukwueze and Tottenham Hotspur loanee Giovani Lo Celso again set to support the lone striker.

Further back, Etienne Capoue and Dani Parejo should again play key roles in midfield, while Manu Trigueros was given the final spot in the engine room last time out.

Real Sociedad have injury issues of their own to deal with, as Ander Barrenetxea, Mikel Oyarzabal, Nacho Monreal and Carlos Fernandez remain sidelined.

They will, however, welcome defender Robin Le Normand and attacker Alexander Isak back to contention after the duo served suspensions last time out.

The latter will have to battle hard for his place, after Alexander Sorloth, Adnan Januzaj and Portu all added to their goal tallies in the win over Cadiz.

Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Trigueros, Capoue, Parejo; Lo Celso, Alcacer, Chukwueze

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Rico; Zubimendi, Merino, Silva; Sorloth, Isak, Januzaj


SM words green background

We say: Villarreal 1-1 Real Sociedad

With so much on the line on Sunday, we predict a tight encounter and see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome.

While the hosts desperately need a win in their pursuit of European qualification, the losses of Danjuma and Moreno could hit them hard against a stronger defence, and we do not see them putting La Real to the sword with a makeshift front line.




For additional data used by our team to analyse our suggesed result please click here.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 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.Under 2.5:data



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Written by
Sam Varley

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Game History

How you voted: Villarreal vs Real Sociedad

Villarreal
64.8%
Draw
31.5%
Real Sociedad
3.7%
54
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona17122350193138
2Real Madrid16113234132136
3Atletico MadridAtletico16105130111935
4Athletic Bilbao1795326151132
5Villarreal157532725226
6Real Sociedad167361611524
7Osasuna166642225-324
8Mallorca177371620-424
9GironaGirona166462223-122
10Celta Vigo166372527-221
11Real BetisBetis165651820-221
12Rayo Vallecano155461516-119
13Sevilla165471723-619
14Las PalmasLas Palmas165382227-518
15Getafe163761113-216
16AlavesAlaves164391827-915
17Leganes163671423-915
18Espanyol1541101528-1313
19Real ValladolidValladolid1733111234-2212
20Valencia152491323-1010


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