Real Sociedad vs Villareal

Underperforming Real Sociedad and La Liga bottom-half underachievers Villarreal are set to trade tackles at Estadio de la Ceramica in a high-stakes encounter.

Real Madrid came from behind to beat Mallorca 2-1 last weekend, halting a five-game winless stretch across all competitions (D3, L2) while equalling their scoring tally from six previous competitive outings. But there’s still no room for complacency as Imanuel Alguacil’s men commence this round only one point clear of seventh-placed Real Betis, with their bid to seal back-to-back top-four finishes already dead in the water. Back to San Sebastian, where they’re winless in their last four league games (D3, L1), ‘La Real’ will not relish Villarreal’s visit despite running out 1-0 victors in this corresponding fixture in 2022/23. Indeed, that triumph merely ended Sociedad’s underwhelming four-game home H2H run against the Castellon outfit (D1, L3), reinforcing Alguacil’s concerns over his side’s current league status.

Luckily for Sociedad, visiting Villarreal are barely a shadow of a team that qualified for the Europa League last season, with ‘El Submarino Amarillo’ stranded in the lower reaches since the turn of the new campaign. But after racking up a five-match unbeaten La Liga streak (W1, D4), Marcelino Garcia Toral’s men have steered nine points clear of the drop zone. Entertainment was at a premium during that sequence, with four of those five games featuring under 2.5 goals, highlighting the potential for a low-scoring contest. Marcelino can’t care less about the aesthetics as he strives to reignite Villarreal’s indifferent away form in La Liga (W3, D4, L5), no less than against a Sociedad side that thumped his charges 3-0 in the reverse fixture at La Ceramica in December.