Relegation-fighting Deportivo Alavés will play hosts to Real Sociedad at the Mendizorrotza Stadium as the home outfit look to leap out of the drop zone just as the away side look to reclaim their gap inside the top four.
It has been a crazy season for Sociedad, who went from leading the way at the top of La Liga once again, to slumping into more of a competitive title fight, to now fighting to get back within the top four with them now sitting in sixth, ahead of seventh-placed Barcelona by a point, behind fifth-placed Atletico Madrid by goal difference, but also a point behind Rayo Vallecano in fourth.
Un día más de trabajo ✔Un día menos para el derbi ⏳🔜 #AlavésRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/v4rjjbt2Ko— Albertachi (@alber_rb4) December 30, 2021
Un día más de trabajo ✔Un día menos para el derbi ⏳🔜 #AlavésRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/v4rjjbt2Ko
This has all come from their five-game winless streak in La Liga that has seen them go from title challengers to top four hopefuls, with defeats coming against Villarreal, Real Betis, Real Madrid, and Espanyol in this time, while they also drew with Valencia.
However, the most worrying part of all of this for Sociedad wasn’t just their recent three-game losing run, but also how they managed to concede nine goals within this time and score just the one goal from star player Alexander Isak in their recent game with Villarreal - the Swede is now on eight goals and is just one behind Mikel Oyarzabal.
The club have still kept up a decent record in cup competitions during their winless streak in the league, beating Zamora 3-0 in the Copa del Rey and Panaderia Pulido 4-0 in the same competition.
They also eased past PSV Eindhoven 3-0 in the Europa League and subsequently made it into the knockout rounds there too.
Deportivo Alaves, on the other hand, remain in the drop zone winless in their past five, and even lost to Primera División RFEF – Group 2 side, Linares Deportivo in the Copa del Rey in what was one of the upsets of the seasons in Spain.
The club are now on only 15 points from 18 games and have scored the second fewest goals inside La Liga with 15 goals - only Getafe have scored less with 12. However, their 29 goals scored is where the alarm bells ring, as they've only seen Cadiz and Levante score more, both who sit lower in the table to them.
With Alaves fighting relegation and Sociedad showing they can compete with those further down the European rankings in the cup competitions.
Forebet predicts they will win here and get back to winning ways. However, their form has been so poor that Forebet also predicts the game to see under 2.5 goals.