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Real Sociedad and Villarreal braced for close-fought battle

Real Sociedad vs Villarreal CF - 09/10/2022

07/10/22
Real Sociedad and Villarreal braced for close-fought battle
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Real Sociedad and Villarreal are separated by a solitary point in the La Liga table as they prepare to go head-to-head at the Reale Arena on Sunday night.

Sociedad sit seventh in the standings, while Villarreal find themselves eighth. However, Villarreal’s goal difference (+8) is far superior to that of Sociedad’s (-1).

Can Sociedad extend their winning streak to three games? Or will Villarreal snap their three-game winless run? Let’s take a closer look at the teams.

Sociedad head into Sunday’s clash with a record of four wins, one draw and two losses, having scored 12 goals and conceded 11 across their first seven league games.

Last weekend, Sociedad extended their winning streak to two games with a 5-3 thrashing of Girona – with Alexander Sorloth bagging a brace.

It is worth noting that Sociedad have scored in all seven on their La Liga games this term. Consequently, only the top three sides have netted more goals.

Having scored seven goals across their past two league outings, Sociedad look destined to get on the scoresheet this weekend.

As for Villarreal, they have only lost one of their seven league outings this season – securing three wins and three draws in that time.

Believe it or not, Villarreal have conceded just two La Liga goals this season – keeping five clean sheets in the process. As a result, they boast the second-best defensive record in the division behind Barcelona.

It is worth pointing out, however, that Villarreal have failed to score in each of their previous three away games in La Liga.

Given that five of Villarreal’s seven league games this season have produced under 2.5 goals, Sunday’s clash should be a low-scoring affair.

Head-to-head: Both teams have scored in each of the past six La Liga meetings between Sociedad and Villarreal, meaning we should see goals on Sunday.

Villarreal have only lost two of their previous 13 away games against Sociedad in all competitions, so the Yellow Submarine should avoid defeat this time around.

Team news: Sociedad’s lengthy injury list features Mikel Oyarzabal, Robin Le Normand, Umar Sadiq, Momo Cho and Martin Merquenlanz.

On the flip side, Villarreal look set to be without Gerard Moreno on Sunday as the experienced forward continues to recover from a muscle injury.

Given that Villarreal have drawn three of their previous five league outings, another tight clash is on the cards at the Reale Arena.

For that reason, Forbet predicts that Sociedad and Villarreal will play out a low-scoring draw on Sunday – with both teams netting under 1.5 goals.

Home team
Away team
Probability %
1X2
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Es1
224830
X
1 - 1
1.98
24°
3.40
2.50 3.40 2.75 no no no
FT
1 - 0(1 - 0)
-
- - -
La Liga
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Real Madrid 95 38 29 8 1 61
2
Barcelona 85 38 26 7 5 35
3
Girona 81 38 25 6 7 39
4
Atlético Madrid 76 38 24 4 10 27
5
Athletic Bilbao 68 38 19 11 8 24
6
Real Sociedad 60 38 16 12 10 12
7
Real Betis 57 38 14 15 9 3
8
Villarreal 53 38 14 11 13 0
9
Valencia 49 38 13 10 15 -5
10
Deportivo Alavés 46 38 12 10 16 -10
11
Osasuna 45 38 12 9 17 -11
12
Getafe 43 38 10 13 15 -12
13
Celta Vigo 41 38 10 11 17 -11
14
Sevilla 41 38 10 11 17 -6
15
Real Mallorca 40 38 8 16 14 -11
16
Las Palmas 40 38 10 10 18 -14
17
Rayo Vallecano 38 38 8 14 16 -19
18
Cadiz 33 38 6 15 17 -29
19
UD Almería 21 38 3 12 23 -32
20
Granada CF 21 38 4 9 25 -41

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