Real Sociedad will be looking to record their first La Liga victory since the end of December when they welcome Cadiz to San Sebastian on Sunday afternoon.
The home side are currently sixth in Spain's top flight, having picked up 32 points from 21 matches this season, while Cadiz have collected 24 points from their 21 league fixtures in 2020-21 to sit 13th.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sociedad's form earlier this season suggested that they were capable of claiming a top-four finish, but it is now difficult to imagine the club ending the campaign inside the Champions League positions.
The Basque outfit have picked up 32 points from their 21 matches to sit sixth in the division but are seven points behind fourth-placed Sevilla, who have a game in hand.
Imanol Alguacil's side will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 1-1 draw away at Villarreal on January 30, and they have not actually won in the league since beating Athletic Bilbao at the end of December.
La Real were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Real Betis on January 26 but will be in Europa League action later this month, taking on English giants Manchester United in a two-legged affair.
Sociedad's immediate focus will be on the league, though, and they will be looking to make it a La Liga double over Cadiz, having recorded a 1-0 victory in the reserve match back in November.
© Reuters
Cadiz, meanwhile, have been impressive on their return to La Liga for the first time since the 2005-06 season, picking up 24 points from 21 matches to occupy 13th position in the table.
The Yellow Submarine are only five points clear of the relegation zone but have shown enough thus far to suggest that they are more than capable of securing another campaign of top-flight action.
Alvaro Cervera's side have beaten both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the league this season, although they will not enter this match in the best of form, winning just one of their last nine in Spain's top flight.
Cadiz have also lost their last two league outings against Sevilla and Atletico Madrid but have been impressive on their travels this term, picking up 14 points from 10 matches, which is the seventh-best record in La Liga.
Real Sociedad La Liga form: LWDLDD
Real Sociedad form (all competitions): LLWDLD
Cadiz La Liga form: DDWDLL
Cadiz form (all competitions): WWLDLL
Team News
© Reuters
Sociedad will be without the services of Miguel Moya, Jon Pacheco, David Silva and Luca Sangalli this weekend through injury, while Robin Le Normand is suspended due to the booking that he picked up against Villarreal.
Le Normand's absence could open the door for Modibo Sagnan to feature in a defensive position, while Jon Guridi could potentially come in for Ander Guevara in the middle of the park.
Alguacil is unlikely to make changes to his attack, though, meaning that Portu and Mikel Oyarzabal should again operate either side of Alexander Isak, who has six league goals to his name this term.
As for Cadiz, Alex Fernandez, Carlos Akapo, Alfonso Espino, Jose Mari and Luismi Quezada will again be unavailable for selection on Sunday.
Alvaro Negredo scored a brace against Atletico last time out and should again be joined by Anthony Lozano in the final third, with Salvi Sanchez and Alberto Perea operating in the wide areas.
Jon Garrido is pushing Isaac Carcelen for the right-back position, but Cervera is expected to stick with the bulk of the side that took to the field against the league leaders.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Sagnan, Monreal; Merino, Illarramendi, Guridi; Portu, Isak, Oyarzabal
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Carcelen, Cala, Mauro, Espino; Salvi, Fali, Jonsson, Perea; Lozano, Negredo
We say: Real Sociedad 2-1 Cadiz
Neither side will enter this match in the best of form, but we are expecting Sociedad to triumph. La Real have actually only won three of their 10 home league matches this season, while Cadiz have lost just four of their 10 fixtures on the road. Alguacil's side will be wary of dropping out of the top six, though, and we are predicting a narrow success for the Basque outfit.
Top betting tip
Matt Law
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 59.22%. A draw had a probability of 23.3% and a win for Cadiz had a probability of 17.52%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.57%) and 2-1 (9.64%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.99%), while for a Cadiz win it was 0-1 (6.27%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 2.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Sociedad would win this match.
