Both looking to bounce back from defeats on the opening day, Real Sociedad and Rayo Vallecano will do battle in La Liga action on Sunday.
The two sides faced tough tests in the first round of fixtures, as the hosts were beaten 4-2 by Barcelona while the visitors made the trip to Sevilla and fell to a 3-0 defeat.
Match preview
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Under the management of Imanol Alguacil, Real Sociedad had a strong campaign last time around, eventually finishing in fifth spot as they won five of their last seven games to keep Real Betis at bay.
That saw their improvement continue having finished in ninth and six spots in the previous two campaigns, while they also prevailed in the 2019-20 Copa del Rey final in April of last campaign, with a Mikel Oyarzabal goal on the hour mark firing Los Txuri-Urdin to a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao following the postponement due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
However, Alguacil's side did not get off to an ideal start this season, having been handed the tough task of a trip to Barcelona on the opening day, with the clash finishing 4-2 to the hosts.
An early Gerard Pique goal and a Martin Braithwaite brace saw the 26-time La Liga champions take a three-goal lead, but Julen Lobete and Oyarzabal found the net within the final 10 minutes to give their side a chance, only for Sergio Roberto to put the game out of sight in injury time.
They will now hope to bounce back and put their first victory on the board at the second time of asking, as they play host to newly-promoted Rayo Vallecano.
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In a mixed campaign in Spain's second tier last year, Rayo Vallecano held onto a playoff spot for the majority of the second half of the season.
While they dropped out of the top six in the final stretch of the campaign, Andoni Iraola's side produced three straight victories to sneak back into sixth spot, before progressing to the playoff final thanks to a 5-1 aggregate win over third-placed Leganes.
That saw them meet Girona in the final with a spot in La Liga on the line, and after falling to a 2-1 defeat in the first leg, Iraola's men fought back with Alvaro Garcia and Oscar Trejo firing them to a 2-0 win to seal promotion.
To begin life back in the top flight, they made the trip to take on Sevilla and would suffer a 3-0 defeat to immediately sink to the foot of the division as Youssef En-Nesyri converted an early penalty before Erik Lamela came off the bench to net a second-half brace and put the game out of sight.
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Team News
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Real Sociedad face several selection concerns, as Nacho Monreal, Carlos Fernandez and Diego Rico are all out of action, while Igor Zubeldia will also struggle to make the squad.
However, exciting forward Alexander Isak is set to return from his injury, and he should offer plenty of quality going forward after an impressive campaign last season and a series of eye-catching performances at Euro 2020.
He will be supported by winger Mikel Oyarzabal, who opened his account for the season in the defeat to Barcelona after registering 11 goals and eight assists in La Liga last season.
Rayo Vallecano are without first-choice goalkeeper Luca Zidane, who will serve a suspension after a red card on the opening day, meaning Stole Dimitrievski will start between the sticks.
Esteban Saveljich and Jose Pozo are also doubts, although they may be fit to make the starting XI after coming through injuries over the summer.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Elustondo, Normand, Munoz; Zubimendi; Oyarzabal, Merino, Silva, Portu; Isak
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Balliu, Saveljich, Catena, F Garcia; Valentin, Comesana; Palazon, Trejo, A Garcia; Nteka
We say: Real Sociedad 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
Real Sociedad looked poor at the back in their opening defeat to Barcelona, but they should have enough going forward to overcome the newly-promoted outfit on Sunday.
The visitors were comfortably defeated in their first game back in the top flight, and they face another tough test and could again be seen off by another side pushing for the top six.
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 50.36%. A win for Rayo Vallecano had a probability of 25.55% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Sociedad win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.05%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.61%) and 2-0 (8.49%). The likeliest Rayo Vallecano win was 0-1 (6.74%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.38%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Real Sociedad in this match.
