La Liga
Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad Preview
Under-performing Real Madrid welcome Real Sociedad to the Santiago Bernabeu for a must win match. Los Blancos are now 7 points behind league leaders Barcelona thanks to an away draw at Villarreal on Thursday.
On the other hand, Sociedad find themselves 15th in the league, a mere 3 points from the relegation zone. The Basque club are having a difficult season so far having won only five of their seventeen games.
Team News
The big news for the Spanish giants is the loss of Gareth Bale to injury once again. Notably, the Welshman’s injury substitution against Villarreal was the 14th of its kind in a white shirt.
Despite the loss of Bale and the continued absence of striker Mariano, the home side will be content depending on Isco. The midfielder drew praise from head coach Santiago Solari for his performance following Thursday’s draw.
The Spanish play-maker will join Karim Benzema and Lucas Vasquez in attack. Elsewhere, midfield should consist of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric, since Marcos Llorente and Marco Asensio continue to recover from injury.
Comparatively, the visitors will be without several players for their trip to the Spanish capital. Kevin Rodrigues, Andoni Gorosabel and Martin Merquelanz all continue to be out with injury for manager Imanol Alguacil.
Additionally, left back Theo Hernandez is on loan from Real and therefore ineligible to play. Striker Willian Jose may feature as sole striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Lineups and Prediction
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Casemiro, Ceballos; Isco, Benzema, Vazquez
Real Sociedad: Moya; Aritz, Llorente, Moreno, Munoz; Oyarzabal, Zurutuza, Illarramendi, Januzaj; Juanmi, W. Jose
At the moment, correctly predicting the outcome of a Madrid match can be a hopeless exercise.
The current European Champions returned from Abu Dhabi where they lifted the Club World Cup, only to draw with relegation-zone Villarreal. Although, some may argue that at home Solari’s men are usually more dependable.
Furthermore, their visitors are going through a rough patch themselves, losing four of their previous six matches. Nevertheless, Sociedad are a proud and historic club and know how to cause trouble in Real’s back line.
Having won the previous seven clashes between these two, a safe bet still lies with a victory for the home side. Expect another good performance from Isco and perhaps a goal from Vinicius Jr. who is overdue on the score sheet.
Real Madrid 2 – 0 Real Sociedad
Photo credit to Real Madrid via Flickr
