Barcelona First Visitors to New Anoeta
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The Spanish top-flight season continues this weekend following the international break. The defending champions face arguably their toughest test of the season to date as they travel to a new-look Anoeta stadium to play Real Sociedad.
This will be the first game played in the stadium since the changes and the home fans will be looking forward to seeing their players in action at the Anoeta for the first time this season.
Real Sociedad have made a mixed start to the 2018/19 La Liga campaign. Having started with a very good 2-1 win at Villarreal on the opening weekend of the season, Real Sociedad were held to a 2-2 draw at Leganes. Having taken a two goal lead in the game, Real Sociedad were disappointed to come away with just a point.
Their final match before the international break saw Real Sociedad slump to a 2-1 loss at Eibar. Real Sociedad took the lead in the game but once again failed to hold on and conceded an injury time goal.
However, home form towards the end of last season was good. Real Sociedad have won each of their last four home La Liga matches and trends show they have been winning at both half-time and full-time in all four of those games.
Real Sociedad have scored 2 or more goals in nine of their last eleven home league matches.
Barcelona start the weekend fixtures sitting top of the table following their three wins this season. Their 100% start to the campaign began with a 3-0 home win against Alaves and a tricky 1-0 win at Real Valladolid.
The season really kicked off for Barcelona with the 8-2 home win over newly promoted Huesca prior to the international break. Having fallen 1-0 down early in the game, Barcelona moved up the gears and were rampant in the second half, scoring 5 unanswered goals to record a massive victory.
Trends show Barcelona have lost only one of their last forty-one league games, which is a tremendous record. They have won thirty-one of those games but trips to play Real Sociedad have not always been kind. Barcelona have won only one of their last eight matches against Real Sociedad at the Anoeta and will be keen to improve on that record.
Looking ahead to the team news and Real Sociedad are without Sandro and Willian Jose meaning a possible start in attack for Jon Bautista. The goalkeeper and back four is expected to remain the same as Real Sociedad line-up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Barcelona will play a similar formation, with Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele in attack. Philippe Coutinho will start in a slightly deeper role in midfield, along with Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets.
Despite some recent struggles against Real Sociedad, Barcelona won this match last season and are in a good position to do the same this season. Expect to see plenty of goal scoring opportunities and an away win, with over 2.5 goals.
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