Espanyol vs Real Sociedad Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Feb 06, 2016 @ 03:36 am

Next Monday, 8th of February 2016, an extremely fragilized Espanyol will measure forces with Real Sociedad at Estadi Cornellà El-Prat for the last match of Round 23 of the Spanish Liga BBVA.

After a 2-2 home draw against Villarreal, Espanyol suffered another major setback at the expense of Real Madrid last Sunday’s night. The Periquitos left a very poor image of themselves at Santiago Bernabéu and ended up defeated by 6-0.

Espanyol’s new manager Constantin Galca brought a new identity to the team after his arrival back in December, but the new year has been particularly complicated for him and his players so far. They are one of the teams with the worst streak of results in Europe at the moment and a win against Real Sociedad next Monday is almost mandatory, since Espanyol are now dangerously close of the relegation zone in the league table.

For that particular match against the Basque team, Constantin Galca is not yet certain if he will be able to rely on the services of Burgui, Felipe Caicedo, Victor Sanchez and Ruben Duarte, who are all sidelined due to injury.

As for Real Sociedad, after an extremely painful defeat at El Molinón against Sporting de Gijón, the Basque team managed to return to winning ways when they hosted Real Bétis last time out. Eusebio Sacristán’s men put up a solid first-half performance and that allowed them to score two goals in just 15 minutes.

Real Sociedad extended their undefeated home streak to three matches after that win, but players and the manager himself weren’t able to avoid the supporters’ criticism during and after the match. The Basque team’s fans are not happy with the team’s current situation and they have verbalized their thoughts last weekend against Real Bétis.

For next Monday’s important match at Catalunya, the Basque team head coach Eusebio Sacristán will still not be able to rely on the contribution of Sergio Canales, who will miss the rest of the season due to a cruciate ligament injury. Imanol Agirretxe, Carlos Martinez and Alberto De la Bella, who are all still recovering from their respective injuries, are in doubt out there.

Espanyol

Stats: W-0 L-4 D-1

Recent Form - LDLLL

Real Sociedad

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - WLDWD

Possible Line-ups

Espanyol (4-2-3-1) - Arlauskis - Lopez - Gonzalez - Roco - Fuentes - Abraham - Diop - Asensio - Sevilla - Perez - Caicedo

Real Sociedad (4-3-3) – Rulli - Zaldua - Elustondo - I. Martínez - Litri - Illarramendi - Pardo - Prieto - Bergara - Vela - Jonathas

Injury List / Suspended Players

Espanyol - Burgui (in doubt) - Felipe Caicedo (in doubt) - Victor Sanchez (in doubt) - Ruben Duarte (in doubt)

Real Sociedad - Imanol Agirretxe (in doubt) - Canales (inj) - Carlos Martinez (in doubt) Alberto De la Bella (in doubt)

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions