Real Sociedad will be looking for their first La Liga victory of the season when they travel to Elche on Saturday.
The Basque outfit have started their 2020-21 campaign with back-to-back draws against Real Valladolid and Real Madrid, but Elche are yet to take to the field in Spain's top flight this season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Elche secured a return to Spain's top flight for the 2020-21 campaign by advancing through the Segunda Division playoffs last season, beating Girona 1-0 on aggregate towards the end of August.
Los Franjiverdes last competed at this level in 2014-15, when they actually finished 13th but were relegated to the second tier because of unpaid debts to the tax authorities.
Elche were then relegated to the third tier of Spanish football for the 2017-18 campaign but are now back at the top level and will be desperate to consolidate in Spain's top flight.
Jorge Almiron's side have been relatively busy during this summer's transfer window, with Raul Guti and Tete Morente among those to arrive, while Juan Cruz and Oscar Gil have been among the departures.
They are yet to start their league season but faced Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy last weekend, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Ronald Koeman's team at Camp Nou.
© Reuters
Sociedad, meanwhile, started their 2020-21 La Liga campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Real Valladolid on September 13 before playing out a goalless draw with Real Madrid in the league last weekend.
The Basque outfit will be keen to put three points on the board as soon as possible and will view Saturday night's encounter as the perfect opportunity to move onto five points for the campaign.
Sociedad finished sixth in La Liga last season, which was enough for a spot in the group stage of the Europa League, but they were some way off the top four, ending the campaign 14 points behind Sevilla.
Imanol Alguacil's side have had a relatively quiet summer in terms of transfers, but they won the race to sign experienced midfielder David Silva from Manchester City, and the 34-year-old made his debut as a second-half substitute against Real Madrid last time out.
Elche form (all competitions): L
Real Sociedad La Liga form: DD
Team News
© Reuters
Elche's side is expected to have a familiar look to the one that started against Barca last weekend, with Nino and summer arrival Morente likely to feature in the final third of the field.
Ramon Folch is likely to miss out through injury, but the home side are otherwise in good shape when it comes to injuries, handing Almiron plenty of options.
A 3-4-3 formation is also expected to feature Omenuke Mfulu in the middle of the park.
Sociedad, meanwhile, still have a number of injury concerns with Asier Illarramendi, Luca Sangalli, Martin Merquelanz, Joseba Zaldua and Igor Zubeldia all expected to miss out through injury.
Nacho Monreal was not involved against Real Madrid last weekend but should come into the starting XI for this game, while Alexander Isak could keep his spot at the tip of the attack over Willian Jose.
Mikel Merino and Ander Guevara should again keep their spots in the middle of the park with 18-year-old Ander Barrenetxea operating in a wide position.
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Verdu, Calvo, Josema; Josan, Mfuiu, Guti, Fidel; Milla, Nino, Morente
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Le Normand, Monreal; Guevara, Merino; Portu, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea; Isak
We say: Elche 1-2 Real Sociedad
Sociedad will be desperate to record their first league victory of the season, and we fancy the Basque outfit to triumph here. It is difficult to know exactly what to expect from this Elche side, but they should prove tough opposition, having given Barca a tough examination in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:curlData 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 38.76%. A win for Elche had a probability of 32.81% and a draw had a probability of 28.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.96%) and 0-2 (7.36%). The likeliest Elche win was 1-0 (11.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.25%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 2.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Real Sociedad would win this match.
