Real Sociedad vs Girona Predictions

The Monday night game this week in La Liga comes from San Sebastian where Real Sociedad are still looking for their first win at their newly renovated home. Girona are the visitors and that will see Eusebio make his first return to La Real since he was sacked at the end of last season, with Sociedad struggling in the bottom half.

The Basques have since appointed Asier Garitano but it has been a relatively mixed start for the former Leganes boss. The standout results have been away wins at Villarreal and in the Basque derby in Bilbao last time out. That certainly helped endear him to the Sociedad fan-base but they will quickly lose patience if the wait for a home win goes on much longer, with just 1 point from 3 outings at the Anoeta so far this term for La Real.

Girona have struggled since the blow of losing Pablo Machin to Sevilla in the summer and Eusebio will want to prove a point to both his former and current employers here. Girona currently lie in 15th place and while they are clearly one of the smaller clubs in La Liga, they are an ambitious one and he could come under some pressure if results don’t pick up soon.

Overall, there’s certainly reason to think they can get something here. Much like Sociedad, Girona have performed better on the road so far this term. They haven’t lost away despite already visiting Villarreal and Barcelona and indeed they are unbeaten in 6 away league games overall. With Sociedad having quite a few selection concerns too, there does look to be value in backing Girona Double Chance here. La Real haven’t really convinced this term and it’s worth noting that their win in Bilbao last time out was largely gifted to them by some reckless defending from Athletic which granted them two penalties.

Backing Both Teams to Score also looks good here. Girona are still a pretty positive team under Eusebio and his stamp still remains on this Sociedad outfit, despite the appointment of a man who was supposed to fix their defensive issues. 75% of Sociedad’s games this term have seen both teams score while 4 of Girona’s last 5 matches have done likewise.

The visitors also have La Liga’s top scorer at their disposal. Cristhian Stuani’s remarkable time in Catalonia seems set to run and run. The Uruguayan has 8 goals in La Liga already this term at an average of one every 82 minutes. Backing Stuani to score anytime could be worth a flutter again with the former Boro man one short of 30 goals in La Liga since returning to Spain in the summer of 2017.