Barcelona go in search of their first win of the season as they travel to Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday.
Real Sociedad head into Sunday’s clash with a 1-0 victory over Cadiz in their opening fixture of the season. Takefusa Kubo struck midway through the first half and despite dominating the possession and creating several chances, failed to add to their lead.
Manager Imanol Alguacil will be looking for a repeat of last season’s campaign where they were in the mix for a top four place before eventually finishing 6th. That campaign was sparked by a fine start which saw them suffer just one defeat in opening 14 La Liga matches.
However, the problem for Real Sociedad is that they tend to struggle against Barcelona. In fact, their only defeat in that fine run at the start of last season was a 4-2 loss at Camp Nou on the opening weekend.
Barcelona failed to get their campaign off to a winning note as they were held 0-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano. Despite boasting multiple attacking threats and registering 21 attempts, they failed to find the back of the net.
While manager Xavi will be disappointed with the result, he is likely to put it into perspective that it was the third straight game that the Catalans have been held goalless by Rayo.
Despite the disappointing result against Rayo Vallecano, it was still an encouraging performance from Barcelona. They will head to Real Sociedad with plenty of confidence given their recent record at Reale Arena.
How the bookies view it
Barcelona have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 13/11 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Real Sociedad is valued at 23/20 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 11/4 with SBK.
Head to head
Barcelona are currently on a 15 match unbeaten run against Real Sociedad and did the double over their rivals last season. The Catalans have also won five of their last six matches at Reale Arena with last season’s fixture ending 1-0.
Players to watch
After scoring on his debut, Takefusa Kubo could be worth a punt to once again find the net at 6/1 with bet365. Alexander Isak is also good for a goal as he leads the line for Real Sociedad and is priced at 2/1 by BetVictor in the same market.
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Barcelona have a lot of faith in Robert Lewandowski and will be hoping he settles down and finds his rhythm quickly. The Polish striker is one of the best in the world and could be backed at 6/5 with bet365 to open his account with the Catalans.
Anything else catch the eye?
Real Sociedad and Barcelona boast dynamic forward lines and tend to produce goals in their fixtures. Two of the last three netting have produced over 3.5 goals, which is priced at 2/1 with Sport Nation while over 2.5 goals is valued at 10/13 by Unibet.
Barcelona have opened the scoring in the last three meetings with Real Sociedad and could be backed to grab the first goal on Sunday at 3/4 with BoyleSports.
This La Liga match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona will be played on Aug 21, 2022 and kick off at 21:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Sociedad vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
