Real Sociedad vs Valencia prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2022-11-05 15:15.
Two straight league defeats have seen Real Sociedad drop away from the La Liga (LL) leaders, although they did enough to secure top spot in their UEFA Europa League group in midweek despite losing 1-0 to Manchester United. Contending with a lengthy injury list, they’ll want to complete their league programme before the World Cup without any further setbacks.
With three games remaining before then, La Real need to return to the form that saw them go four home LL fixtures unbeaten (W3, D1) before Betis triumphed here 2-0 (Oct 30). The visit of a struggling Valencia side could present an opportunity to return to winning ways but having only won one of the last five home H2Hs (D1, L3), whilst failing to score in three of them, means nothing is guaranteed.
That record might spur the visitors on as they look to emerge from a slump (D2, L2) that’s threatening their presence in the top half. After their 1-0 defeat to Barcelona last time out, manager Gennaro Gattuso did little to lift the mood by claiming the club isn’t targeting European qualification and that the goal is to reach 40 points, after which “everything is easier”.
Whether picking up away wins will become more straightforward remains to be seen but Los Che have only won one of their last nine league away games (D5, L3) so if they are to reach that points target, it seems much of the work will be done at home. They can be expected to fight hard though, as recent improvements on the road have seen them score first in each of their last three LL road fixtures, subsequently losing none of them (W1, D2).
Players to watch: Brais Méndez has scored between the 25th and 35th minute in two of Sociedad’s last four home league games while Valencia striker Edinson Cavani has five goal contributions from his last five LL appearances (G4, A1).
Hot stat: Valencia’s last three league away matches produced an average of two red cards per game (includes one player that was not on the pitch).