Barcelona travel to take on Real Sociedad at the Anoeta on Sunday evening and the visitors will be hoping that their fortunes in this fixture improve.
A fixture against Barcelona, whether it be home or away, is usually one that teams fear; however, in recent times, Sociedad have thrived against the Catalan giants at the Anoeta and are now unbeaten against them on home soil since 2007. On top of this, the hosts come into this fixture in good form and will certainly fancy their chances of once again upsetting Luis Enrique’s men.
Even though this is somewhat of a bogey fixture for Barca, many people will find it hard to look past the visitors and they may well break the trend by coming out on top. Having said this, it’s definitely worth sticking with the hosts by backing ‘Real Sociedad to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ at the very appealing price of 5/2.
Sociedad have been in good scoring form of late, notching 12 goals in their last five matches. They’ve scored at least twice in all five of those too. They may have faced a few easy tasks recently when beating the likes of Leganes and Gijón, but they also saw off Atlético (2-0 at home). In addition, the hosts have scored two or more goals in seven of their 12 matches this season.
As for the visitors, well, it hasn’t exactly been plain sailing all the way this season for Barcelona. Enrique’s side have managed to get themselves in a few sticky situations and it would no surprise if they met trouble again on Sunday night. Having let in 13 goals, the visitors have conceded in seven of their 12 matches. And, when they’ve conceded, more often than not, they’ve tended to concede more than just a single goal – conceding two or more on four occasions.
The way in which Barcelona play is always going to allow their opposition chances on the counter-attack and, as Valencia and Celta Vigo showed when scoring two and four respectively against them this season, this is definitely something that can be exploited. Sociedad will be more than happy to play on the counter but, at the same time, they are an astute ball-playing side who’re also capable of hurting their opponents with incisive possession play.
This fixture will be a second away match in four days for the Catalan club, whereas Sociedad have had an entire week to prepare. This might not seem like much when we’re talking about some of the best players in the world, although those extra 90 minutes can easily have a negative effect and might just be the difference between Barca being right at it or being a little bit sloppy.
When all is said and done, Sociedad know how to get a result in this fixture and, more importantly, they know that they will get chances to score goals, especially on the counter. With more than enough tools to take advantage, the Basque side are fancied to hurt Barcelona by finding the net a couple of times in front of what should be a roaring Anoeta on Sunday night.
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