Real Sociedad vs Espanyol prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2025-02-08 17:30.
[p]Real Sociedad come into this clash having lost three La Liga games in a row for the first time since they lost four on the trot in December 2021, although Thursday’s 2-0 Copa del Rey win over Osasuna was far more encouraging. Battling on three fronts has stretched Sociedad this term, and they start the round just inside the bottom half, so perhaps the tonic they need is the visit of struggling Espanyol, as they’ve won the last four H2Hs.[/p]
[p]They also enjoy an excellent home H2H record having won the last five meetings here, with their last defeat being way back in September 2015 (W5, D2). Two of those victories came with an accompanying shut out, and after keeping four consecutive La Liga clean sheets at the Reale Arena (W3, D1) it was a surprise when they went down 3-0 to Getafe in their latest home league outing. [/p]
[p]Looking to inflict more pain on their hosts, Espanyol travel having just beaten Real Madrid 1-0 to give their fight against relegation a huge boost. It came at a cost as Carlos Romero, scorer of the winning goal, will be missing through suspension after picking up a yellow card for a tackle that Madrid were convinced should have been a red.[/p]
[p]The Parakeets finished the matchday clear of the relegation zone by extending their unbeaten league run to four matches (W2, D2), yet they’re still searching for a first league away win of the season (D2, L8)! They’ve come relatively close recently, drawing 1-1 with Sevilla and only losing the two such games before that 1-0, so they could be nearing that landmark first La Liga road victory since May 2023.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Takefusa Kubo was the last player to score a La Liga goal here for Sociedad, and all five of his club strikes this season contributed to wins ‘to nil’, with four of them opening the scoring. With Romero absent, Espanyol could do with fellow defender Omar El Hilali adding to the two assists he’s provided across his last three appearances.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Sociedad have won eight of the nine La Liga matches in which they scored first this term (L1), including August’s H2H (W 1-0).[/p]
[p][i]Written by John Pennington[/i][/p]