Real Sociedad vs Villarreal Prediction: Stalemate in San Sebastian?

Real Sociedad cannot afford to be distracted by the bigger games approaching when they face mid-table Villarreal at Reale Arena on Friday night (KO, 20:00).

The San Sebastian side face Mallorca in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Tuesday and host Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 of the Champions League a week later.

Those matches could provide a distraction and getting the three points that would keep them on track for a top-six finish will be no easy task against a Villarreal team who are looking to extend their five-game unbeaten run in La Liga.

Team News

Forward Sheraldo Becker and left-back Kieran Tierney both returned to training this week and could make the Real Sociedad squad for Friday’s game, but centre-back Aritz Elustondo and forward Mikel Oyarzabal have still not rejoined the group.

Midfielder Dani Parejo and defender Eric Bailly are available for Villarreal, who will also hope to have former Real striker Alexander Sorloth back after he missed last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Getafe due to a muscle problem.

Match Odds

Real Sociedad are the 8/11 favourites to earn another victory over Villarreal after sinking the Yellow Submarines at their own ground earlier this season.

The visitors are as big as 4/1 to stun the hosts in front of their own fans, with the draw at 13/5.

Both teams to score is available at 10/11 while it’s 4/5 at least one of the teams fails to find the net and it is 6/1 for the game to finish 1-1, which Villarreal’s last two La Liga matches have done.

Draw @ 13/5

Marcelino was still in the early days of his stabilisation project when Real Sociedad beat his Villarreal side 3-0 at Estadio de la Cerámica in December.

The Yellow Submarines lost three of their next four La Liga games before beginning this current unbeaten run that has moved them clear of the relegation zone.

Their games can still be frenetic as the midfield balance is tilted towards attack while Villarreal’s defenders remain prone to the odd blunder, but the squad is capable of mixing it with the best again.

That was demonstrated in their recent 5-3 win at Barcelona’s temporary home at the Olympic Stadium when they recovered from the blow of a 71st-minute own goal that put them 3-2 down.

The timing of this trip to the Basque Country could work well for them as Real Sociedad could be caught looking ahead to the more important and glamorous home fixtures on the horizon.

And Imanol Alguacil’s side are not scoring enough goals at the moment — netting only five in their last nine La Liga matches — although they did halt a 500-minute barren run in last Sunday’s 2-1 win at Mallorca.

With no wins to show from their last four home league games, the hosts are hard to trust at any odds on price.

So the draw, which has landed in three of those games and four of Villarreal’s last five La Liga fixtures, looks to be the most tempting option in the match market.

Booking Points 40-55 @ 8/5

Javier Iglesias Villanueva takes charge of this contest and he has been a middle-of-the-pack official in terms of yellow and red cards this season in comparison to other Spanish referees.

Villanueva, who averages 4.38 cautions per game, dished out exactly three yellow cards in his last two appointments and seven the time before that when he officiated Villarreal’s 3-0 defeat to Las Palmas.

But six of his 13 top-flight matches would have fallen between the 40-55 mark in terms of booking points, so that margin should be backed in this clash.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.