Real Sociedad vs Leganes Predictions

Real Sociedad were stunned 1-2 by Levante in their last home fixture on Matchday 11, but they quickly put things right at the weekend with a 1-2 success at Granada to move into 3^rd spot.

After three wins from their last four, only goal difference separates Txuri-urdinak from top two Barcelona and Real Madrid, and Imanol Alguacil’s charges have the chance to take up the outright lead in La Liga this Friday, albeit temporarily, if they can see off bottom side Leganes at Anoeta.

Few teams are setting the world alight in La Liga this term and the fact that Sociedad sit 3^rd 12 matches in after losing 33% of their matches rather typifies that point.

It’s felt as though the Basque outfit have been inconsistent since the opening weekend of the season; however they have racked up seven victories in total which is matched only by Barcelona – albeit the champions are a game behind following the postponement of El Clasico a fortnight ago.

Sociedad certainly have a tendency to get beaten when its least expected – they won their first two home games impressively and without conceding this term against Atletico Madrid (2-0) and Alaves (3-0) before being turned over by Getafe at Anoeta (1-2), and their home defeat to Levante last week came on the back of consecutive wins against Real Betis (3-1) and Celta Vigo (0-1).

Nonetheless, Txuri-urdinak are equally bouncing back well from disappointments as shown by their triumph over high flying Granada at Los Carmenes a few days ago, a vital three points sealed late in the day through summer signing Portu who had also given Sociedad the lead 20 minutes in.

We expect Sociedad to build some further momentum after that success and it’s difficult to envisage a slip-up against basement dwellers Leganes this Friday night, even despite Los Pepineros’ appointment of experienced Mexican coach Javier Aguirre this week.

Lega remain six points adrift of the safety line following their 1-2 home defeat to Eibar on Sunday, a result which marked their ninth loss of the campaign already.

They were smashed 5-0 by Real Madrid when last on the road two starts ago and have collected just one point from five away fixtures in total, failing to score in three. They have lost their last two away games by at least a two goal margin and have conceded 11 in total on their travels.

Whilst new boss Aguirre is likely to drive some improvement in the coming weeks, we simply feel there is too much of a gulf in class between these sides at the moment. Sociedad are in the habit of winning games regularly and have triumphed by a two goal margin or more in four of their seven victories this season.

For the reasons outlined and Sociedad’s easy 3-0 success in last season’s corresponding fixture, we’re backing the hosts to cover a one goal handicap here on Matchday 13.

With Alguacil’s side averaging exactly two goals per game at home this term and Lega’s aforementioned struggles in front of goal on the road, we’re also going for a 2-0 correct score which will see Sociedad comfortably claim top spot heading into the rest of the weekend’s games.