Real Sociedad vs Barcelona

Defending La Liga champions Barcelona take an exciting trip to the Reale Arena to meet Real Sociedad.

Real Sociedad conceded late to draw 2-2 at Rayo Vallecano last weekend, complementing a topsy-turvy three-game stretch in La Liga (W1, D1, L1). Immanol Alguacil’s men commence this matchday fifth in the standings, five points adrift of upcoming rivals Barcelona, a side they defeated 2-1 in their last encounter in May. However, it’s worth noting that the Basque giants have only once won back-to-back top-flight H2Hs in the 21st century. It’s hard to put it past the San Sebastian outfit to achieve that feat this weekend, considering they’ve racked up four consecutive home league wins after drawing their first two such matches in 2023/24 en route to making it 15 unbeaten on home turf in La Liga (W10, D5).

Meanwhile, Barcelona squandered a 1-0 lead at halftime in a morale-damaging 2-1 home defeat to arch-rivals Real Madrid last weekend, relinquishing their ten-game unbeaten La Liga start (W7, D3) and falling four points below the summit. Traveling outside Catalonia has proved challenging for Xavi Hernandez’s troops this season – they’ve drawn three out of five away league games (W2), including the last two in a row against Mallorca and Granada, both via the same 2-2 scoreline. Against this backdrop, the reigning La Liga holders have won on their three most recent league visits to San Sebastian, with two of those triumphs coming by 4+ goals ‘to one.’ Those wins form part of Barcelona’s 12-game unbeaten H2H away league run against Sociedad (W9, D3).