Real Sociedad's quest for a second Copa del Rey crown in three seasons continues with the visit of Real Betis to the Reale Arena for Thursday's quarter-final.
Imanol Alguacil's men entered the winter break on the back of a goalless draw with Getafe in La Liga, while the visitors eased to a 4-1 win over Espanyol.
Match preview
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Real Sociedad's unbeaten start to 2022 is still intact, but ending a three-game winning streak against the 16th-placed side in the division did not see Alguacil's men enter the international break with the wind in their sails, as they were restricted to just nine attempts on the day.
Despite boasting 70% of the ball on their own turf, Sociedad could not find a way through the steadfast Getafe defence as their patchy La Liga form continued, with the White and Blues now rank outsiders when it comes to the battle for Champions League football.
Scoring goals has certainly not been an issue for the 2020 Copa del Rey winners in this season's edition, though, with the hosts bagging 12 goals across their four victories in the tournament so far, most recently seeing off La Liga champions Atletico Madrid 2-0.
The clean sheet versus Getafe made it three shut-outs in a row for Sociedad as the race for top-four spots hots up, and Alguacil may already have one eye on the impending Europa League showdown with RB Leipzig, but a spot in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey will be a welcome boost.
Furthermore, not since November 2017 have Sociedad lost a Copa del Rey encounter on their own turf, and they have scored at least two goals in each of their last seven at home in the competition, but surprise package Betis are harbouring silverware dreams of their own.
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While Sociedad were busy being goal-shy, Real Betis were scoring at will, as Manuel Pellegrini witnessed his crop of Champions League hopefuls hit Espanyol for four just before the mid-season break.
Borja Iglesias was on target twice for Betis, who also struck through Guido Rodriguez and Willian Jose after Espanyol had broken the deadlock through Raul de Tomas, who went from hero to zero for his side as he was sent off in the dying embers.
Still holding off the threat of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, a first appearance in the Champions League since the 2005-06 season is firmly within reach for Pellegrini's men, who ended the month of January with three wins on the bounce across all competitions.
Pellegrini's side had to do it the hard way against Sevilla to make it to the quarters of the Copa del Rey for the second season running, but they were knocked out in the last eight by Athletic Bilbao last year and have only progressed further than the quarter-finals once since they last lifted the trophy in 2005.
Sociedad's strong home streak in the Copa del Rey is one thing, but Betis enter the quarter-final having won their last six in the tournament away from home, and they thumped Alguacil's men 4-0 during their most recent battle back in December.
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Team News
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Sociedad goalkeeper Mathew Ryan remains on international duty with Australia but has been named in the squad anyway, while Alguacil is also working around the absences of Nacho Monreal, Ander Barrenetxea and Carlos Fernandez.
In brighter news, Rafinha and Martin Zubimendi have both returned to the training pitches and ought to be available, and Aihen Munoz should also be fine to take part after shaking off a calf problem.
Alexander Isak - who remained at Sociedad on deadline day despite widespread Arsenal speculation - will expect to displace Alexander Sorloth at the tip of the attack for Sociedad, and the same can be said for midfielder Mikel Merino as he returns from suspension.
As for Betis, German Pezzella and Guido Rodriguez - now recovered from COVID-19 - remain on international duty with Argentina, while Diego Lainez and Andres Guardado represent Mexico.
Martin Montoya, Cristian Tello and Claudio Bravo continue their recoveries from injury and will not be present at the quarter-final, while midfielders Paul Akoukou and Victor Camarasa are also absent.
Marc Bartra could therefore be used as an emergency midfielder alongside William Carvalho in the engine room this week, and Youssouf Sabaly will expect to keep Hector Bellerin out of the XI at right-back.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Zaldua, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Rico; Merino, Zubimendi, Silva; Januzaj, Isak, Oyarzabal
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Sabaly, Ruiz, Gonzalez, Moreno; Carvalho, Bartra; Fekir, Canales, Juanmi; Iglesias
We say: Real Sociedad 3-2 Real Betis (a.e.t)
This should be a truly fascinating battle between a Sociedad team renowned for their Copa del Rey successes at home and a Betis side - albeit a depleted one - who produce the goods on unfamiliar territory in this competition.
Alguacil's men will fancy their chances with Betis looking light in midfield and will be determined to avenge their 4-0 thrashing from several weeks ago, so we can see a thrilling tie going the hosts' way after extra time.
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 42.58%. A win for Real Betis had a probability of 32.26% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.29%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.96%) and 2-0 (7%). The likeliest Real Betis win was 0-1 (7.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.88%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood.
