Real Sociedad vs Betis prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-12-16 15:15.
As the halfway point of the 2023/24 La Liga (LL) season approaches, the league’s top four sides have established a gap from the rest. The front of the chasing pack includes Real Sociedad and Real Betis, both of whom have maintained their presence by regularly collecting points over the last few months. But given Sociedad’s three LL losses this season all came against those top four clubs, they can’t have any complaints about the position they’re in.
Following the 1-0 loss at home to Barcelona in early November, the home side have responded well with an eight-game unbeaten run across three competitions that saw them advance through both the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and Copa del Rey. The pinnacle was the 0-0 draw away to last season’s UCL runners-up Inter Milan on Tuesday which helped them top their group for the first time in their history, a feat manager Imanol Alguacil believes will take years to sink in.
Betis are still soaking in the thrills of an outstanding draw of their own: 1-1 at home to then league leaders Real Madrid, but they’ll now have to quickly turn their attention towards continuing their seven-match unbeaten run against Sociedad (W4, D3). Just like their hosts, their last LL defeat came at the hands of Barcelona, but it was seven rounds earlier!
A difficult period awaits Betis if they cannot improve their performances on the road. Their home form has done the heavy lifting, underlined by just one win from their eight LL away trips (D5, L2), with both losses coming to clubs above them in the table. That, combined with upcoming home games against Barcelona and Girona, could really test their mettle over the coming weeks.
Players to watch: Umar Sadiq extended Sociedad’s lead in their last LL home game, meaning he’s unbeaten in his last 22 competitive goalscoring appearances for any club (W17, D5). Ayoze Pérez is not only Betis’ last goalscorer in a LL away game, but he also opened the scoring in their only LL away win.
Hot stat: All but two of Betis’ 11 consecutive LL games without defeat produced under 2.5 total goals.