Barcelona will be aiming to bounce back from a disappointing El Clasico defeat as they travel to Real Sociedad for a La Liga fixture on Saturday. Sociedad have the quality to make things difficult and can avoid defeat against the Catalans, who have been slightly unconvincing on their recent travels.
It has been a solid start to the season for Real Sociedad, who are challenging around the top end of the table. They head into Saturday’s clash with just one defeat in their last 10 matches across all competitions, claiming seven wins in that run.
Real Sociedad are coming off a 2-2 draw with Rayo Vallecano in their previous La Liga fixture with Mikel Oyarzabal netting a brace. They followed that up with a 1-0 victory over lower league side Buñol in a Copa Del Rey clash on Wednesday.
Reale Arena has been a fortress for Real Sociedad this season as they are yet to taste defeat in front of their fans so far. However, Imanol Alguacil’s men tend to have the odd lapse of concentration at the back as evidenced by the draw with Rayo Vallecano where they threw away the lead deep into added time.
Barcelona travel to Reale Arena off the back of a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Real Madrid in the El Clasico. They failed to build on an early lead from Ilkay Gundogan and were breached twice after the restart.
While Barcelona generally hate to lose to Real Madrid, they will be keen to put things into perspective as that was their first defeat across all competitions this season. Xavi’s men are still in the running to retain their title, sitting just four points off the pace.
A closer look at Barcelona’s form so far reveals that they have been slightly unconvincing on their travels with two wins and three draws from five away matches so far. They have been held to 2-2 draws by Mallorca and Granada in their last two away matches.
How the bookies view it
Barcelona have the upper hand among the bookies with a win priced at 6/5 by 888Sport. A victory for Real Sociedad is valued at 23/10 with BoyleSports while William Hill is offering odds of 5/2 for a draw.
Head to head
Barcelona have a 40-9 advantage with 11 draws from 60 previous matches against Real Sociedad. The Catalans have also won five of the last six fixtures but Sociedad picked up a 2-1 victory at Camp Nou in the most recent meeting back in May.
Players to watch
Mikel Oyarzabal is the leading scorer for Real Sociedad with six goals this season and will be tube one to watch on Saturday. The attacker is coming off a brace last time out in La Liga and is priced at 27/19 by Unibet to get on the score sheet.
Robert Lewandowski made his return from injury in the El Clasico and will be looking to add to his five La Liga goals this season. The Polish striker netted a brace on his last visit to Reale Arena and is priced at 6/4 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona have sewn over 3.5 goals in their last two Way matches and a repeat is priced at 23/10 with Paddy Power. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 10/11 with Unibet, who is also offering odds of 3/4 on both teams to score.
There have been first half goals for both teams in Barcelona’s last two away matches and a similar outcome is priced at 7/2 by BoyleSports.
This La Liga match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona will be played on Nov 4, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. 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.
