Real Sociedad – Rayo Vallecano : Preview & Prediction
Last matchday, Real Sociedad lost 2-0 in the derby against Athletic Club at San Mamés. Curiously, the last four matches of the San Sebastian team have ended with a 2-0 home victory. The txuri-urdin team, which has been very irregular in the second round of LaLiga Santander (LL) and sees Betis and Villarreal in the rear-view mirror in the fight for the fourth place in the Champions League, cannot afford to stumble against Rayo Vallecano.
The Blue and Whites have won their last two games at the Reale Arena with 2-0 victories (Elche and Getafe), the same scoreline by which they won their visit to Rayo in January. Defensively, Real continue to be a rock, and no club ranked between 6th and 20th going into this matchday has scored more than one away goal against Imanol Alguacil’s side in the current LL campaign. Of those clubs, only Real Valladolid managed to take all three points at Real’s home ground. The rest of the teams recorded three draws and seven defeats, averaging only 0.5 goals scored per game.
For their part, Rayo Vallecano rekindled their hopes of qualifying for UEFA competition with a 2-1 win over Osasuna, ending a miserable run of eight games without a win (E5, P3). Rayo’s coach, Andoni Iraola, had described the duel with the red-and-red team as “fundamental”. Rayo’s European options will increase if Real Madrid wins the final of the Copa del Rey; in that case, the Europa Conference League place (play-off round) will move from 6th to 7th position.
Against Osasuna, Rayo achieved their first break/finish double since mid-October, a definite positive for a team that had ended up drawing all three of their previous LL games with half-time leads. Eighth before this matchday, the Vallecano side also have the eighth-best away record, having managed to score on their visits to top-of-the-table sides such as Barcelona (E 0-0), Atletico Madrid (E 1-1) and Villarreal (G 1-0).
Players to watch: Ander Barrenetxea’s two goals in LL 2022-23 came in 2-0 wins for Real Sociedad (Elche and Rayo Vallecano). Rayo has not lost any of the nine LL games in which Isi Palazón has found the back of the net (W6, D3).
Notable series: Each of Real Sociedad’s last ten games in all competitions has had fewer than 2.5 goals, and none of those games have been won by the away team.
Real Sociedad – Rayo Vallecano : Betting Tips
Real Sociedad – Win Odds: 1.75
