Levante's fight to escape the relegation zone in La Liga will continue on Friday evening when they welcome high-flying Real Sociedad to Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.
The home side are currently bottom of the table, six points from the safety of 17th spot with four games left, while Real Sociedad sit sixth, five points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid.
Match preview
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Levante have picked up four points from their last three league matches, but positive results from the teams around them means that they have dropped to the bottom of the table, boasting 26 points from 34 matches.
The Valencia-based outfit are now six points behind 17th-placed Cadiz with four games left, meaning that they will have to enjoy a brilliant end to the campaign to stand a chance of staying in the league, and there is no downplaying the importance of this match to their chances of staying in the league.
Alessio Lisci's side just have not won enough games in La Liga this season, collecting maximum points on just five occasions, while they have comfortably the worst defensive record with 66 conceded, which is concerning considering their next two matches are against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid.
The fact that Real Madrid have already won La Liga could work in Levante's favour when the two teams lock horns on May 12, and they will want to be in the argument heading into their final two games of the campaign, which are against Alaves and Rayo Vallecano.
The Frogs have only played outside of La Liga in one season since 2010, so it would be a surprise to see them drop down to the Segunda Division, but they are in a very dangerous position entering the final straight.
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Real Sociedad, meanwhile, are chasing down fourth-placed Atletico in the table, currently sitting five points behind the capital giants in the race to secure Champions League football for next term.
More realistically, though, the Basque outfit are going to finish fifth or sixth, which would still represent a strong campaign, boasting a record of 15 wins, 11 draws and eight defeats from their 34 games to collect 56 points.
Incredibly, Real Sociedad have only scored 33 league goals this season, which is one of the worst offensive records in the division, but they have been strong defensively, conceding just 32 times, with only Sevilla (28) and Real Madrid (29) boasting superior records at this stage.
Imanol Alguacil's side will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano last time out, and they are now winless in their last three, picking up just two points since a 2-1 success at Elche on April 10.
Real Sociedad's away form in La Liga this season has been mixed, collecting 24 points from 17 matches, but they will be taking on a Levante side with the second-worst home record in Spain's top flight this term.
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Team News
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Levante will again be missing Roger Marti, Shkodran Mustafi, Jorge de Frutos and Carlos Clerc for this weekend's contest through injury.
However, Lisci's side did not pick up any fresh problems in their 1-1 draw with rivals Valencia last time out, so it would not be a surprise to see close to the same XI take to the field.
There could be a change in midfield, with Enis Bardhi pushing to start, potentially in place of Nemanja Radoja, but Dani Gomez should retain his spot in attack alongside Jose Luis Morales.
As for Real Sociedad, Mikel Oyarzabal, Nacho Monreal, Carlos Fernandez and Ander Barrenetxea will again be unavailable for selection through injury.
Head coach Alguacil is expected to make changes from the side that started against Rayo Vallecano last time out, with Adnan Januzaj, Joseba Zaldua and Alexander Isak all pushing to be involved from the first whistle.
There could be a change to a 4-3-3 formation on Friday, with Aritz Elustondo potentially coming into the back four alongside Robin Le Normand, while David Silva is back from a suspension and should start.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Miramon, Rober, Duarte, Vezo, Son; Bardhi, Pepelu, Campana; Morales, D Gomez
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Zaldua, Elustondo, Le Normand, Rico; Merino, Rafinha, D Silva; Januzaj, Sorloth, Isak
We say: Levante 1-2 Real Sociedad
Levante are in desperate need of the points to stay in the league and will have to attack Real Sociedad on Friday night. Under normal circumstances, we would be backing a draw here, but Levante will have to go for it, and we can see the visitors picking up all three points courtesy of a narrow success.
Top tip
Data 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 51.5%. A draw had a probability of 24.5% and a win for Levante had a probability of 24%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.15%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.61%) and 0-2 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.65%), while for a Levante win it was 1-0 (7.06%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 6.1% likelihood.
