David Flower
Dailysports's expert
Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad
One of the matches of La Liga's 35th round will take place on Saturday evening at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, where Atletico Madrid will host Real Sociedad. I’m offering a bet on the outcome of this clash with a solid value.
Match preview
This round gives Atletico Madrid a chance to officially secure their spot in next season’s Champions League. For Diego Simeone’s side, a win over the San Sebastian team is essential, as any title ambitions have long faded. The gap from league leaders Barcelona is a daunting 12 points, an insurmountable deficit with only four matches left.
Atletico enters this encounter in high spirits, following a commanding 3-0 home victory over Rayo Vallecano and a goalless draw away at Alaves. The team is determined to cement their position in the top four and guarantee their place in Europe’s premier club competition.
The Basque side is enduring a tough spell in the league, failing to win any of their last four matches. During this run, Imanol Alguacil’s men suffered two defeats and settled for two draws. In the previous round, they hosted Athletic Bilbao but once again disappointed their fans, ending the match in a goalless stalemate. Despite a modest 11th place in the table, Real Sociedad remain in the hunt for European football, trailing the coveted spots by just a single point.
The team’s attacking output is equally concerning: so far, Real Sociedad have found the net only 32 times this La Liga campaign—one of the lowest tallies in the league, with only Mallorca, Getafe, and Valladolid scoring fewer. Moreover, the club has failed to score in three of their last four fixtures and have managed just two wins in their previous nine outings.
Probable lineups
- Atletico Madrid: Jan Oblak – Javi Galán, Robin Le Normand, Clément Lenglet – Marcos Llorente, Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo De Paul, Pablo Barrios – Antoine Griezmann, Alexander Sørloth, Giuliano Simeone
- Real Sociedad: Alejandro Remiro – Jon Martín, Nayef Aguerd, Aihen Muñoz, Amari Traoré – Sergio Gómez, Martín Zubimendi, Pablo Marín Tejada, Brais Méndez – Takefusa Kubo, Mikel Oyarzabal
Match facts and head-to-head
- Atletico have not lost to Real Sociedad in their last 10 La Liga encounters (6 wins and 4 draws)
- The capital club are on an impressive run of 11 unbeaten home matches in the league (9 wins and 2 draws)
- Atletico have scored at least two goals in 6 of their last 7 home games against Real Sociedad in La Liga
Prediction
The bookmakers favor the home side in this matchup, offering odds of around 1.72 for an Atletico win. We believe the Colchoneros are well placed to claim all three points, so our pick is 'Atletico to win.'
