Real Sociedad will be bidding to return to winning ways in La Liga when they continue their campaign at home to an out-of-form Granada outfit on Sunday evening.
The home side are currently seventh in the table, three points behind fourth-placed Barcelona, while Granada occupy 16th, six points clear of the relegation zone heading into the next set of fixtures.
Match preview
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Real Sociedad have a huge run of matches coming up, facing RB Leipzig over two legs in the knockout round of the Europa League, in addition to tackling Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao in the league on February 20.
Imanol Alguacil's side cannot afford to look past this contest, though, as they bid to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight following back-to-back goalless draws against Getafe and Valencia.
The White and Blues have dropped to seventh spot in the table, but they are only three points behind fourth-placed Barcelona and will be confident of challenging for a Champions League finish in the final months of the season, even if they advance deep into the Europa League.
Real Sociedad, who have drawn three of their last four in the league, have won five, drawn four and lost two of their 11 home La Liga fixtures this term to collect 19 points.
The hosts will be the favourites to overcome an out-of-form Granada on Sunday, and they recorded a 3-2 victory when the two teams locked horns in the reverse match back in September.
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Granada, though, have won two of their last four La Liga matches against Real Sociedad, including a 3-2 success in San Sebastian in July 2020, so they are certainly capable of securing a positive result in this game.
That said, Robert Moreno's side will enter the match off the back of three straight league defeats to Getafe, Osasuna and Real Madrid, which have seen them slide towards the relegation zone once again.
Indeed, a record of five wins, nine draws and nine defeats has brought Granada 24 points, which has left them in 16th spot in the table, six points ahead of 18th-placed Cadiz on the same number of games (23).
The Red and Whites have finished seventh and ninth in their last two La Liga campaigns but will struggle to secure a top-half finish this term and are instead looking over their shoulder at this stage.
Granada's away form this season has also been disappointing, winning just one of their 12 matches, although they have shared the points on six occasions on their travels in 2021-22.
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Team News
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Real Sociedad will be without the services of Carlos Fernandez, Nacho Monreal and Ander Barrenetxea this weekend through injury, while Igor Zubeldia will miss the contest through suspension.
The Basque outfit have no other fresh concerns heading into the match, so there are not expected to be any big surprises when it comes to team selection this weekend.
Head coach Alguacil will make changes from the side that started against Valencia, though, with Adnan Januzaj, David Silva, Alexander Isak and Aritz Elustondo all expected to feature in the first XI.
As for Granada, Neyder Lozano and Santiago Arias remain on the sidelines through injury, while Luis Maximiano, Antonio Puertas and Isma Ruiz are major doubts after testing positive for COVID-19.
The expected absence of Maximiano will open the door for Aaron Escandell to start between the sticks, while Dani Raba could start in a wide area if Puertas misses the match.
Carlos Bacca and Jorge Molina are also pushing for spots in the final third, and the former could potentially get the nod alongside Luis Suarez from the first whistle.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Le Normand, Rico; Merino, Silva, Zubimendi; Oyarzabal, Isak, Januzaj
Granada possible starting lineup:
Escandell; Quini, Sanchez, Torrente, Neva; Rochina, Milla, Gonalons, Raba; Bacca, Suarez
We say: Real Sociedad 1-0 Granada
Granada only narrowly lost at Real Madrid last time out, and the visitors are certainly capable of making this an uncomfortable match for Real Sociedad despite their recent struggles. That said, we are expecting Alguacil's side to navigate their way to an important three points in front of their own supporters.
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 53.58%. A draw had a probability of 24.7% and a win for Granada had a probability of 21.77%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.12%) and 2-1 (9.57%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.7%), while for a Granada win it was 0-1 (7.15%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 10.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Real Sociedad would win this match.
