Next Sunday, 14th of December 2014, two Spanish football powerhouses, Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, will measure forces at Anoeta for round 15 of the Liga BBVA, on a match of the utmost importance for the home side that, despite all the recent slight improvements, remains dangerously close to relegation zone.

It is fair to say that David Moyes’ honeymoon at Real Sociedad ended abruptly last weekend when his team was completely hammered on their visit to El Madrigal. The Basque team lost 4-0 to a Villarreal side that controlled almost every aspect of the game and reduced the visitors’ hopes to shreds after some absolutely demolishing last 30 minutes of match, where they netted in all four goals. Real Sociedad were somewhat caught by surprise by the Yellow Submarine’s attacking avalanche and never found a way to counter the home side’s display of power.

David Moyes knew beforehand that his challenge at the Basque team would not be easy, but after the team’s convincing home win over Elche two weeks ago, the supporters were probably expecting a better display against Villarreal.

Real Sociedad’s week was, in fact, far from brilliant, as, besides that heavy defeat at El Madrigal, they also failed to grant anything better than a draw from their visit to Asturias to play with the Spanish football third tier Real Oviedo in the middle of the week, on a Copa del Rey match.

Next weekend’s Basque Country derby will surely be a great test for David Moyes’ new Real and a could might help them put the Villarreal’s defeat behind their backs. For that particular match, the Scottish manager will probably still not be able to rely on the contribution of Gonzalez, Elustondo, Agirretxe, Bergara and Zaldua, all currently sidelined due to injury.

As for Athletic Bilbao, they will also certainly not want to remember last weekend’s clash, where they sucumbed at home against the modest Cordoba, which took advantage of a home side’s defensive mistake to clinch the three points. The Algerian international forward, Nabil Ghilas was Athletic’s executioner after scoring his fourth goal of the season on the 23rd minute of the match.

After their poor season start, Athletic were having a very decent run before last Saturday’s match, but their defeat against Córdoba could be enough to awaken some of their ghosts from the past and to re-enter a negative streak once more.

It is hard to name any favourites for Anoeta’s clash, although and by playing at home, Real Sociedad may enjoy from a slight favouritism for next weekend’s Basque Country’s derby.

Real Sociedad

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - LDWDW

Athletic Bilbao

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

Recent Form - LDWWW

Possible Line-ups

Real Sociedad (4-4-1-1) - Zubikarai - C. Martínez - Martínez - Ansotegui - La Bella - Granero - Canales - Pardo - Prieto - Zurutuza - Carlos Vela

Athletic Bilbao (4-2-3-1) - Iraizoz - Iraola - Gurpegi - Laporte - Aurtenetxe - Iturraspe - M. Rico - Muniain - de Marcos - Susaeta - Williams

Prediction

Real Sociedad 1 Athletic Bilbao 1