Sevilla vs Real Sociedad Odds & Prediction La Liga Round 18
- Sixth-placed Sevilla is favored in Saturday’s game, having gone unbeaten in five games against Real Sociedad
- La Real enters the matchup fourth in La Liga but has lost three of its last five league contests
- Read on for a full preview, odds, and the best bet for Saturday’s game
Outside of the big three of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, you could make a fair argument that Sevilla are the most in-form team in Spain’s La Liga right now. Unbeaten in five league matches and eighth overall, Julen Lopetegui’s men have at least two games in hand on four of the five teams above them and would move up to third just behind Real Madrid if they could take maximum points from them. But first, it’s Sevilla vs Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Sevilla will have to get past Real Sociedad on Saturday, January 9, on Matchday 18 of La Liga at 8:00 am EST.
La Real are currently sitting in fourth, having picked up just seven of the last 24 points on offer, including three losses in their last five. In fact, Sociedad has just one win in its last 11 games in all competitions, although that one victory was a big one, coming in the Basque Derby against Athletic Bilbao on New Year’s Eve.
Sevilla vs Real Sociedad Odds
| Matchup | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sevilla vs Real Sociedad | SEV -0.5 (+120) | SOC +0.5 (-143) | SEV +120 | SOC +260 DRAW +210 |
Ov 2.5 (+123) | Un 2.5 (-155) |
All odds taken Jan. 8 at DraftKings
Sevilla Surging
Since losing three on the trot in October, Lopetegui’s team has gone from strength to strength, picking up 20 out of a possible 27 points in La Liga. As a result, Sevilla have surged up the table, and now sit comfortably in sixth. And with at least two games in hand on everyone above them but leaders Atletico Madrid, they could move up to third above Barcelona by winning those games.
🔥 @FCBarcelona climb into the Top 3 after that big win at San Mames! 🔝#LiveStandings#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/Edw6d89boU
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) January 6, 2021
More importantly for this fixture, a win for Sevilla will see them draw level with Sociedad on 30 points.
But they might have to do so without skipper Jesus Navas and second-leading scorer, Lucas Ocampos, who are both in doubt for the match. For a team that has so far scored just 1.13 goals per game – good for just 11th best in La Liga – the loss of any attacking talent is a legitimate concern.
5 – Óscar Rodríguez is the fifth different player to score a direct free-kick goal for @SevillaFC_ENG in all competitions since the start of last season (Joan Jordán, Chicharito, Munir El Haddadi and Éver Banega), more than any other LaLiga team. Quality.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 5, 2021
However, Sevilla’s goals-against mark of just 0.73 per game is the third-best in La Liga, behind only Atletico Madrid’s otherworldly 0.40 and the 0.72 mark put up by Real Sociedad.
Sociedad Struggles
La Real were one of the bright spots of the early season, winning seven and drawing one of their first ten games to sit top of La Liga in late November.
But that all changed from that point on, and the team fell from the summit and has struggled to stop the rot since.
Real Sociedad end the year with a win over Athletic Club 🔵⚪pic.twitter.com/dKyAi1OJVU
— Goal (@goal) December 31, 2020
Unlike Sevilla, Sociedad has been scoring for fun this season, with 27 goals from 18 matches for 1.50 goals per game, better than anyone not named Real Madrid, Atletico or Barcelona. However, finding the back of the net came mostly early in the campaign, and the team hasn’t even scored twice in a game in two months, since winning 2-0 over Granada, 11 games ago. Still, the team has scored the most goals away from home in La Liga, with 15.
Your @RealSociedad Player of the Month for December 2020, Igor Zubeldia 🌟💙⠀ pic.twitter.com/tokfjXrjRM
— IQONIQ (@iqoniq) January 8, 2021
Their chances of returning to their free-scoring ways on Saturday won’t be helped either by the absence of World Cup winner David Silva, as well as wingback Nacho Monreal.
Sevilla vs Real Sociedad Stats
| 8 | Wins | 8 |
| 3 | Draws | 6 |
| 4 | Losses | 4 |
| 18 | Goals For | 27 |
| 11 | Goals Against | 13 |
| 43 | Shots On Target | 68 |
| 12.20 | Shots On Target Per 90 Minutes | 11.39 |
| 61.3% | Possession | 55.6% |
Sevilla vs Real Sociedad Best Bet
Sociedad has won just one of the past eight encounters between the two teams and hasn’t won at Sevilla since 2016, one of the two wins it has claimed at Ramon Sanchez-Pijuan Stadium in the past 19 years.
With three wins and two draws against Sociedad in their past five meetings, Sevilla will be further buoyed by the fact that they have put eight past La Real in their past two home games against them. But those two high-scoring games seem like something of an anomaly in meetings between these squads, as the other three games featured just one goal between them.
In fact, both teams seem to be featuring in games falling on the ‘Under’ side of goals scored, with Sevilla’s past five games all going under 2.5 goals – following a pattern that has seen them do so in 12 of their 15 La Liga games this season – while Sociedad did the same in three of its past five contests.
Pick: Sevilla (+120)
For the last 20 years, Paul Attfield has worked in sports media. Starting out in his native Britain with the likes of The Independent, he eventually switched continents, with his work appearing in the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Yahoo Sports since.
