The Reale Arena is the venue of this clash between two ‘Real’ clubs with Sociedad taking on Valladolid with a precious three points up for grabs for both sides in their respective battles for a European spot and La Liga safety.
The 8th placed Real Sociedad have plenty of incentive behind them to do well in this Friday night clash as the hosts are just 3 points adrift of 4th placed Atletico Madrid, and as they possess a decent +8 goal difference, a win for Real Sociedad would see them draw level with the top four and place them amongst the candidates for a Champions League spot next season.
The potential financial rewards are therefore huge for Real Sociedad and having won their last four matches on the trot in all competitions with victories over Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Mirandes and Valencia, the hosts look in good shape for further success here.
Real Sociedad have also won their last 3 home matches on the trot in the Spanish top flight and confidence is high amongst the camp ahead of this clash.
The visitors, Real Valladolid, have enjoyed more modest success in recent weeks as they’ve collected wins against Mallorca 1-0 away from home and a 2-1 home win against Espanyol, but they’ve also fallen to defeats against Real Madrid and Granada too.
Real Valladolid have become something of ‘draw specialists’ so far in La Liga as they’ve been involved in the most number of stalemates this season (11), 7 of which have been on home turf at their Estadio Municipal José Zorrilla, where they’ve lost just twice all season.
However, it’s been a very different story away from home for Real Valladolid as the visitors have managed to win just 3 of their 13 away matches to date in this campaign on their travels, with just 1 win out of their last 8 games on the road.
Real Valladolid have also found goals hard to come by on the road this season too as they’ve managed just 9 goals in total and have failed to score in 6 of their 13 away matches so far this term.
Therefore, given Real Valladolid’s troubles in front of goal and Real Sociedad’s winning momentum at home along with the added incentive of a possible top four finish, Real Sociedad look the more likely to take the points here.