Real Sociedad vs Athletic Bilbao

The latest Basque derby takes place at Reale Arena this weekend as Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao lock horns in a mouth-watering La Liga contest.

Real Sociedad have picked up where they left off in November, beating Osasuna and Almeria by an identical 2-0 scoreline upon the La Liga return to consolidate their place in the top-four race. Imanol Alguacil’s men boast a five-point lead on fifth-placed Atletico Madrid at the start of this round, but their indifferent three-game home league form (W1, D1, L1) means they cannot take anything for granted. That said, ‘La Real’ haven’t lost any of their last three home matches against Bilbao at home (W3, D2). That will inspire Sociedad’s bid to avenge a humiliating 4-0 defeat in their most recent La Liga H2H and avoid losing back-to-back league encounters against Bilbao for the first time since 2013.

In the meantime, Athletic Bilbao have played out consecutive 0-0 draws against Osasuna and Real Betis since La Liga’s return after the World Cup, falling two points behind the top-four pace. Worryingly for Ernesto Valverde, after winning their opening two away league fixtures, his men have gone winless on their last five La Liga travels (D3, L2), netting under 1.5 goals on four occasions. But ‘Los Leones’ head into proceedings on the back of three straight clean sheets in La Liga (W1, D2) and could register a fourth shutout in a row in the competition for the first time since 2015. Yet you’d have to go to March 2017 for Bilbao’s last top-flight blank sheet at the Anoeta.