Barcerlona will look to bounce back this Thursday when they travel to Reale Arena for a battle against Real Sociedad in the 34th game week of the La Liga. Kickoffs at 22:30 EAT.
Real Sociedad sits fifth in the La Liga standings with 55 points five points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid in the race for the Champions League spots. The White and Blues have been strong in front of their own supporters this season, picking up 32 points from 16 matches, recording nine wins in the process, but they will be hosting a Barcelona side with the second-best away record in Spain’s top flight. The Basque outfit has been in strong form since losing 4-1 at Real Madrid towards the start of March, picking up 11 points from their last five matches, including a 0-0 draw with fifth-placed Real Betis on Friday night.
Sociedad held each to a goalles draw with Real Betis in their last La Liga fixture. In that match, Real Sociedad had 57% possession and nine shots with two of them on target. Real Betis got nine shots with two of them on target.
Barca iescurrently second in the table with 60 points 15 points behind the table leaders Real Madrid, but they are level on points with third-placed Sevilla and fourth-placed Atletico, while Real Betis in fifth position are just three points behind, so the Catalan outfit is in a top-four battle. Barcelona won seven straight league matches between February 20 and April 10, which left them in charge of second spot in the table however they suffered a home loss last Monday.
After the disappointing 0-1 La Liga defeat to Cádiz in their last action, Barcelona will be looking for a turnaround here. In that match, Barcelona managed 75% possession and 18 shots with six of them on target. Cádiz got six shots with four of them on target and a goal by Lucas Pérez (48′).
Real Sociedad vs Barcelona head to head
Barca is obviously the dominant side in the head to head history of this fixture winning 37 times out of the 56 meetings since 1993. Real Sociedad has won eight times while 11 matches ended in stalemates.
- Barcelona 4-2 Real Sociedad 15/08/21
- Real Sociedad 1-6 Barcelona 21/03/21
- Real Sociedad 2-3 Barcelona 13/01/21
- Barcelona 2-1 Real Sociedad 16/12/20
- Barcelona 1-0 Real Sociedad 07/03/20
Home
- Real Sociedad 0-0 Real Betis
- Elche 1-2 Real Sociedad
- Real Sociedad 1-0 Espanyol
- Sevilla 0-0 Real Sociedad
- Real Sociedad 1-0 Alaves
Away
- Barcelona 0-1 Cadiz
- Barcelona 2-3 Frankfurt
- Levante 2-3 Barcelona
- Frankfurt 1-1 Barcelona
- Barcelona 1-0 Sevilla
Real Socieda team news
The hosts will again be missing Mikel Oyarzabal, Nacho Monreal, Carlos Fernandez and Ander Barrenetxea through injuries while David Silva is out of the contest through suspension.
Barcelona team news
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernández has a number of players out of action. Gerard Piqué, Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto, Moussa Wagué and Pedri will be unavailable for this fixture due to injuries. Moussa Wagué will also remain sidelined through suspension.
Prediction and odds
Barcelona has the second-best away record in Spain’s top flight collecting 28 points from 16 matches while Real Sociedad haslost nine of their last 10 league games against Barcelona and have not overcome them in Spain’s top flight since April 2016.
- Barcelona Win
- Draw
- Both teams to score
