Both Real Betis and Real Sociedad will be looking to continue their encouraging starts to the 2020-21 La Liga season when they lock horns in Seville on Sunday night.
Betis are currently second in Spain's top flight with nine points to show from their five fixtures, while Sociedad sit third, having claimed eight points from their opening five games of the campaign.
Match preview
© Reuters
Three wins and two defeats - that is how Betis have performed in Spain's top flight this season, with a total of nine points from five matches leaving them second in the division behind Real Madrid.
Manuel Pellegrini's side recorded back-to-back wins at the start of the 2020-21 campaign, overcoming Alaves and Real Valladolid without conceding a goal.
Betis then suffered successive losses to Real Madrid and Getafe but entered the international break off the back of a strong result, recording a 2-0 victory at Valencia courtesy of goals from Sergio Canales and Cristian Tello.
The Green and Whites finished 15th in Spain's top flight last season, just five points above the relegation zone, but there has been improvement this term under the management of Pellegrini.
Betis recorded a 3-0 victory over Sociedad when the two teams met in the corresponding match back in January, meanwhile, and they have not lost at home to the Basque club in the league since March 2017.
© Reuters
Sociedad opened their campaign with back-to-back draws with Real Valladolid and Real Madrid before recording a 3-0 victory away to Eibar to put five points on the board.
The Basque outfit suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Valencia at the end of September but started the month of October with a 3-0 victory over Getafe courtesy of goals from Mikel Oyarzabal, Mikel Merino and Portu.
Imanol Alguacil's side finished sixth in La Liga last season, which was enough to secure a spot in the group stage of the Europa League, but they were 14 points behind fourth-placed Sevilla.
Somewhat surprisingly, only one new player arrived at the club over the summer, with experienced midfielder David Silva making the move on a free transfer after leaving Manchester City.
La Real are a team full of quality, though, and will be looking to pick up another victory before opening their Europa League Group F campaign against Croatian side Rijeka on October 22.
Real Betis La Liga form: WWLLW
Real Sociedad La Liga form: DDWLW
Team News
© Reuters
Betis will again be without the services of Francis Guerrero, Dani Martin and Victor Camarasa through injury, but Aissa Mandi is available after serving a one-match suspension against Valencia.
Summer arrival Claudio Bravo has also overcome a knee issue and should start, while there is likely to be a change in the final third of the field with Borja Iglesias replacing Antonio Sanabria.
William Carvalho should also return to the middle of the park, meaning that Canales could be pushed further forward alongside Nabil Fekir and Joaquin.
As for Sociedad, an extensive injury list still includes Asier Illarramendi, Luca Sangalli and Martin Merquelanz, while Igor Zubeldia, Adnan Januzaj and Joseba Zaldua are also unlikely to be available for this game.
Alguacil could therefore decide to select the same XI that started the clash with Getafe before the international break, with Alexander Isak again potentially getting the nod over Willian Jose in the final third.
David Silva and Merino should both feature in a central position, while Oyarzabal and Portu are again expected to operate in the wide positions for La Real.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Emerson, Mandi, Bartra, Moreno; Rodriguez, Carvalho; Joaquin, Canales, Fekir; Iglesias
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Le Normand, Monreal; Silva, Zubimendi, Merino; Portu, Isak, Oyarzabal
We say: Real Betis 2-2 Real Sociedad
Both teams will enter this match off the back of impressive results before the international break, and we are finding it difficult to separate the pair this weekend taking everything into consideration. There are certainly goals in both sides, and we are predicting an entertaining 2-2 draw in Seville.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Real Sociedad win with a probability of 37.46%. A win for Real Betis had a probability of 36.9% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 0-1 with a probability of 8.93%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.33%) and 0-2 (6.13%). The likeliest Real Betis win was 1-0 (8.86%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Sociedad would win this match.
