Real Sociedad vs Valencia Preview

Real Sociedad and Villarreal will battle themselves again this Friday with the hosts able to secure a place in La Liga’s top seven if they win this game.

Real Sociedad come into this tie sitting in seventh position, three points ahead of Villarreal so winning here would all but secure a top-seven finish and European football for a fifth consecutive season. Imanol Alguacil’s men can target even more as just a point separates them and Real Betis inside the top-six ahead of the round with the pair set to face off in the penultimate round of La Liga fixtures.

However, winning on Thursday may not be a straightforward thing as La Real has struggled in recent H2Hs against Valencia at the Reale Arena, winning just one of six meetings on their own turf (D2, L3). Home advantage hasn’t helped the hosts this season either as they’ve earned just as many points on the road as in front of their home faithful who’ll be desperate to see an improvement on a poor recent run of form that’s seen them win just once since March at any venue (D2, L2).

Meanwhile, given their recent struggles, Valencia are unlikely to be buoyed by Sociedad’s poor home form. The hosts come into this tie on a four-game winless run (D1, L3), leaving their hopes of playing in Europe in tatters. Los Ches did at least avoid defeat in a goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano last time out, a result that moved them to within six points of Sociedad ahead of their trip to San Sebastián.

Head coach Rubén Baraja will be keen for his side to replicate the start his side made in their last away outing as Valencia were 2-1 up at Barcelona before the break, only for a red card to eventually play its part in condemning his side to defeat. But that kind of potency up front has been sorely missing throughout the campaign with Valencia scoring just 37 times across 35 matches this term – the lowest return among top-half clubs.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table