Real Sociedad will be looking to continue their excellent start to the 2021-22 La Liga season when they welcome Valencia to Anoeta Stadium on Sunday night.
The Basque outfit are currently top of the table, one point clear of second-placed Real Madrid, while Valencia, who played out a six-goal thriller with Atletico Madrid last time out, occupy 10th position.
Match preview
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Real Sociedad have been the standout team in La Liga this season, winning eight, drawing four and losing one of their 13 matches to collect 28 points, which has left them at the top of the table, one point clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand on the leaders.
The Basque outfit are also going well in the Europa League this season, picking up six points from four matches in Group B, which has left them in second spot, just two points behind leaders Monaco.
Imanol Alguacil's side, who have had a number of injury problems this season, entered the international break off the back of a 2-0 victory at Osasuna, with Mikel Merino and Adnan Januzaj on the scoresheet.
The White and Blues, who have a huge Europa League game away to Monaco next Thursday, finished second in La Liga in 2002-03, but they have not made the top four since 2012-13 and will certainly be eyeing a Champions League finish in Spain's top flight this term.
Real Sociedad have only won one of their last eight La Liga matches against Valencia, though, and suffered a 1-0 defeat in the corresponding game during the 2020-21 season.
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Valencia, meanwhile, played out a 3-3 draw with Atletico before the international break; Los Che were incredibly 3-1 behind entering second-half stoppage time but managed to secure a share of the spoils courtesy of a late double from substitute Hugo Duro.
Jose Bordalas's side have won four, down five and lost four of their 13 league matches this season to collect 17 points, which has left them in 10th spot in the table, level on points with Barcelona.
Valencia have not had any trouble finding the back of the net this season, scoring 21 times in their 13 La Liga matches, which is the joint-second best record behind Real Madrid (28).
However, Los Che have conceded 20 times, which is the second-worst record behind Levante (25), so it is not difficult to see where the team's problems have come from this term.
Valencia picked up four points from their two home games before the international break against Villarreal and Atletico but were on the end of a 4-1 defeat to Real Betis in their last away fixture on October 27.
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Team News
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Real Sociedad will again be without the services of Igor Zubeldia due to a muscular problem, while Jon Guridi, Nacho Monreal and Asier Illarramendi remain doubts.
Mikel Oyarzabal is fit after a spell on the sidelines, though, and the Spain international is expected to start in a front three alongside Januzaj and Alexander Isak.
There are not expected to be any surprises in the middle of the park, meanwhile, with David Silva and Mikel Merino again set to be joined by Martin Zubimendi.
As for Valencia, head coach Bordalas will find it difficult to leave Duro out of the starting XI after the Spaniard scored twice off the bench against Atletico.
Gabriel Paulista is still out with a hamstring problem, while Hugo Guillamon is suspended due to the booking that he picked up against Atletico, so Uros Racic should retain his spot in central midfield.
There could be a change to a 4-4-2 formation for this match, with Maxi Gomez, who has missed his side's last three games with a muscular issue, joining Goncalo Guedes in a front two.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Zaldua, Elustondo, Le Normand, Rico; D Silva, Merino, Zubimendi; Januzaj, Isak, Oyarzabal
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Cillessen; Foulquier, Diakhaby, Alderete, Gaya; Soler, Wass, Racic, Duro; Guedes, Gomez
We say: Real Sociedad 2-1 Valencia
Valencia are more than capable of picking up a positive result on Sunday, and it would not be a surprise to see a draw or indeed an away victory here. Real Sociedad's form this season has been excellent, though, and we are backing the Basque outfit to shade a close contest to put another three points on the board.
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 63.27%. A draw had a probability of 21.6% and a win for Valencia had a probability of 15.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.19%) and 2-1 (9.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.24%), while for a Valencia win it was 0-1 (5.42%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 6.8% likelihood.
