Real Sociedad is welcoming Villarreal to Reale Arena in round 18 of the Spanish LaLiga. Sociedad has been hot and cold as of late, but they are still playing really well in LaLiga. Villarreal seems to be waking up as of late, they are scoring goals, and they have stepped up defensively.
Sociedad was able to get to that second place in their Europa League group, and they have advanced to the next stage where they will play against Leipzig in February. In LaLiga, Sociedad is now in 5th place with 29 points, 19 scored goals, and 17 conceded goals. Sociedad’s defense is still pretty good, but they have stopped scoring as many goals as they did, and it cost them. Oyarzabal is the leading goalscorer for Sociedad with 6 goals, and he is expected to play. There are a lot of injuries in Sociedad, but I think some of those players might be in the lineup for this game. I think Sociedad is good enough to get back to the top 4 in LaLiga, but they will need to go back to their offensively oriented soccer because their defense is not good enough for them to rely on it so much.
Villarreal is now on a 3-game winning streak, and they finally look like a team who can play soccer. This is the best time Villarreal has had all season, and they are playing better and better. In their last 3 games, Villarreal has scored 12 goals while conceding only 3 goals, and they have qualified for the next stage of the Champions League after beating Atalanta last week. With this nice streak, Villarreal will be a threat to anyone in LaLiga right now, they just need to keep playing this well. Villarreal has scored only 18 goals so far this season in LaLiga, but their defense was keeping them afloat with 17 conceded goals. Danjuma has been excellent for Villarreal this season with 5 scored goals. Even better news for Villarreal is their injured players have recovered, and that will certainly give them a bit more depth and quality on the bench. After this game, Villarreal is hosting Alaves, and that is definitely a game they should win and close this year on a positive note.
Sociedad has lost only 1 home game so far this season, and that is where they had their best games so far. Villarreal is on fire right now, they are in great form, and they are playing better and better. I see goals in this one, and I see them on both sides.