Sunday evening features the clash between 5th placed Real Sociedad and 2nd placed Barcelona at the Reale Arena as the hosts look to bounce back from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat away from home at Granada.
Not that this upcoming fixture against Barcelona is expected to be any easier for Real Sociedad but prior to that loss at Granada, the home side had previously put put together a seven-match unbeaten run in La Liga which has lifted them up into 5th spot.
This encouraging sequence of results included four wins which were gained over Cadiz, Getafe, Deportivo Alaves and Levante but with the exception of the latter result, the other three victories were against teams situated in the bottom half of La Liga.
With nine points separating Real Sociedad and 4th placed Sevilla, it looks increasingly likely that the hosts will have to make do with a Europa League spot but they do bring a three-match sequence at home into this Sunday’s meeting.
However, Real Sociedad’s record against Barcelona is a poor one as they’ve lost 10 of their last 11 meetings against their visitors.
Barcelona know they must keep their winning momentum going in La Liga if they’re to keep pace with the league leaders, Atletico Madrid, as they still trail their title rivals by a four-point margin despite winning their last four league matches on the trot.
Barcelona have shrugged off their disappointing exit in the Champions League against French club, PSG, as they’ve collected wins on the domestic front against Elche, Sevilla, Osasuna and Huesca.
The bigger picture shows that the visitors have won 14 out of their last 17 matches.
This looks to be an increasingly ominous sign for the league leaders, Atletico Madrid, especially as Barcelona have won their last eight matches away from home on the trot, scoring a total of 20 goals and conceding just four in reply.
In addition, Barca have also kept six clean sheets within this excellent and impressive eight-match winning streak and this could be one of the deciding factors in the outcome of this clash at Real Sociedad this Sunday.
It had been a slow start on the road for Barcelona earlier in the campaign as they’d picked up just one win from their opening five away matches but they’ve since clicked into gear and look to be closing in on another domestic top flight title.