Real Sociedad and Sevilla will square off at the Reale Arena on Sunday, having both made impressive starts to the La Liga campaign.
The hosts bounced back from an opening defeat to record three straight victories in the Spanish top flight, while their visitors arrive with seven points from their first three outings.
Match preview
© Reuters
After a fifth-placed finish last season, Real Sociedad were handed a tough start to the new campaign, as they made the trip to the Camp Nou to take on title-chasing Barcelona, and Imanol Alguacil's men were handed a 4-2 defeat, despite Julen Lobete and Mikel Oyarzabal scoring in the final 10 minutes to pull the scoreline back to 3-2 and give themselves a small chance.
La Real quickly bounced back in style though, recording consecutive 1-0 victories over Rayo Vallecano and Levante, before making it three straight wins when they travelled to take on Cadiz.
Following the return from the recent international break, the clash between Cadiz and Alguacil's side remained goalless for 70 minutes, until Oyarzabal put the visitors ahead and later added a second to seal their third three-point haul of the season after four games.
On the back of collecting nine points from their opening four games, they headed into their opening Europa League group stage clash with Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven on Thursday, and Adnan Januzaj and Alexander Isak put them ahead after Mario Gotze's opener for the hosts, only for Cody Gakpo to net a second-half equaliser and force a share of the spoils.
Now returning to domestic action, Alguacil's men will be keen to continue their momentum with what would be a fourth straight win on Sunday, but they face a particularly tough test.
© Reuters
Sevilla arrive with seven points from their opening three league outings, having started with a 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano as Youssef En-Nesyri opened the scoring before Erik Lamela netted a brace off the bench to seal the victory.
Lamela was again the star as Julen Lopetegui's men made it two wins from two, with the winger hitting a 93rd-minute winner to fire his side to a 1-0 victory over Getafe, before they were held to a somewhat underwhelming 1-1 draw by Elche in their most recent La Liga match, stopping a winning run from growing.
Similarly to their opponents, Sevilla were also in continental action in the week, as they kicked off their Champions League campaign with a home clash against Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg, and they came out of a game that produced four penalties with a 1-1 draw.
The visitors won three spot kicks in the first half but only managed to convert one to take a 1-0 lead, before Lopetegui's side earned a penalty of their own, with Ivan Rakitic beating the keeper to see the game end level.
They now return to top-flight action with the hopes of extending an unbeaten run against a side that they could be battling for similar spots with at the end of the season.
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- D
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Real Sociedad still have a long injury list to deal with, as Carlos Fernandez, Nacho Monreal, Diego Rico and Jon Guridi are all ruled out.
Two other crucial players are also doubts, as midfielder Asier Illaramendi and winger Ander Barrentxea are both unlikely to feature.
The absence of the latter could see Adnan Januzaj keep his place in the front three after his goal last time out, joining Alexander Isak and Mikel Oyarzabal in a dangerous trio.
On the contrary to their opponents, Sevilla come in with a clean bill of health, although Lopetegui still has several important decisions to make.
Youssef En-Nesyri will continue to lead the line, as the suspension for his red card against Salzburg will instead carry over to their next Champions League game.
Meanwhile, there is competition on the flanks, with Erik Lamela expected to keep his place following his three goals in the first two games of the season from the bench, while Alejandro Gomez and Lucas Ocampos will both be pushing to break into the starting XI.
Joan Jordan, Fernando and Ivan Rakitic should continue to form a strong midfield trio, keeping new signing Thomas Delaney out of the side.
At the back, Los Nervionenses battled to retain the services of French centre-back Jules Kounde amidst links to Chelsea over the summer, and the 22-year-old will continue to partner Diego Carlos.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Normand, Munoz; Silva, Merino, Zubimendi; Januzaj, Isak, Oyarzabal
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan; Ocampos, En-Nesyri, Lamela
We say: Real Sociedad 1-1 Sevilla
With two strong sides in impressive form squaring off, this could certainly go either way, and we cannot quite pick a winner on Sunday.
The two teams boast quality all over the pitch, and, while Sevilla might have the slightly superior squad depth, La Real's home advantage should level the playing field.
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 38.06%. A win for Sevilla had a probability of 34.54% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.14%) and 2-0 (6.89%). The likeliest Sevilla win was 0-1 (10.33%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.97%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood.
