Real Sociedad vs Rayo Vallecano

Real Sociedad and Rayo Vallecano are set to trade tackles at the Reale Arena in an exciting La Liga match-up.

Real Sociedad’s stuttering pursuit of a second consecutive top-four finish in La Liga got back on the rails last weekend as they halted a dismal four-game winless league run (D3, L1) with a narrow 1-0 victory at Celta Vigo. However, Imanol Alguacil’s men still trail fourth-placed Atletico Madrid by six points, underscoring the importance of extending an eye-catching ten-game unbeaten top-flight streak against Rayo Vallecano with a win (W5, D5). Though the reverse fixture yielded an enthralling 2-2 draw, ‘La Real’ will hope for a more favorable outcome, considering they’ve only lost once in ten home league outings this season (W5, D4). But Sociedad can’t take anything for granted after picking up just one win in their last four La Liga matches in San Sebastian (D2, L1).

On the other hand, Rayo Vallecano slumped to a disheartening 2-0 home loss to promoted Las Palmas last weekend but were lucky other bottom-half sides failed to capitalize on their slip-up. Despite suffering an alarming three defeats across their previous four La Liga games (W1), the visitors still boast a decent-looking eight-point lead on 18th-placed Cadiz. Much of the credit for Vallecano’s relatively comfortable position in mid-table goes to their away form, with 62% of their La Liga points total arriving on the road (15/23). But before overcoming Getafe via a slender 1-0 scoreline in their last away league fixture, Vallecano had failed to get on the scoresheet on three consecutive top-flight travels (D1, L2). Scoring shouldn’t be a problem here, given they’ve only drawn a blank once on their last six La Liga visits to Sociedad.