Real Sociedad are looking for a reaction after two consecutive defeats. Imanol Alguacil's side travel to face Valencia, who sit bottom of La Liga, this Sunday in the seventh matchday.
The Basque club arrives having lost at Anoeta to Bournemouth (1-2) and Atlético Madrid (0-3). Those losses have left the txuri-urdin in 12th place in the table, with seven points from a possible 18. Their record shows two wins, one draw, and three defeats, with six goals scored and eleven conceded.
Valencia, meanwhile, are on a run of four defeats in their last five matches. Their only recent win was a 1-0 victory over Alavés last time out. The last meeting between the sides, in May, was a thrilling 4-3 win for Valencia at the Reale Arena.
Defensive absences
Real Sociedad face the match with significant absences in defence. Igor Zubeldia remains out with a muscle injury and will not be available until the end of the month. Álvaro Odriozola is also sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury, with a return expected in November. This leaves the backline with few options for rotation.
In the last match, Imanol fielded Luken Beitia, Jon Martín, M. Sarr and Sergio Gómez in defence. Real Sociedad's goal against Bournemouth was scored by Sergio Gómez, assisted by Beitia. In attack, Mikel Oyarzabal and O. Óskarsson started.
Valencia are likely to repeat their 4-2-3-1 setup with Hugo Duro as the attacking focal point, supported by players like Javi Guerra and A. Danjuma. S. Dimitrievski will guard the goal.
A win is important for La Real to avoid slipping further from mid-table. The full season schedule is on our fixtures page.
The match at the Estadio de Mestalla kicks off at 21:00 local time on Sunday, 20 September.
