Girona will look to continue their good form when they host Real Sociedad in the La Liga. At the moment, Real Sociedad is two points ahead of seventh-place Real Betis. The home team leads the standings by one point over Real Madrid, which is in second place.
Preview (Girona vs. Real Sociedad)
Girona is now top of the competition, one point ahead of Real Madrid in second place. They have a record of 17 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss from 22 La Liga games this season. The Catalan team has had an incredible season. They are now 13 points ahead of Athletic Bilbao in fifth place in the race for a top-four finish. Even if they were to lose ground on the lead in the final stretch of the season, it would still be an incredible season. Girona’s exit from the Copa del Rey quarterfinals may work to their advantage in the title fight. They will now only need to concentrate on the league.
On January 14, Michel’s team was held to an unexpected goalless draw by league-bottom team Almeria. Nevertheless, they have since defeated Sevilla 5-1 and Celta Vigo 1-0 in the top division of Spain. After this match, Girona has two away league games against Real Madrid and Athletic. It highlights how crucial a win is on Saturday night, although Real Sociedad also needs the points. The visitors will come into this game having drawn goallessly against Rayo Vallecano. It dropped them to sixth place in the standings after they gained 36 points from their first 22 games.
It will be challenging for the Basque team to qualify for the Champions League given that they are six points behind fifth-place opponents Athletic and 11 points behind fourth-place Barcelona. The team led by Imanol Alguacil is only two points ahead of Real Betis in seventh position in the league, having only won nine times this season due to an excessive number of draws (nine) that have prevented them from sitting higher up the table at this moment. Real Sociedad is still playing in three competitions.
Team News
Due to injuries, Eric Garcia, Juanpe, David Lopez, Joel Roca, and Toni Villa will not be available. Ivan Martin is expected to replace Portu in the starting XI if head coach Michel makes one change from the team that played Celta at the start of the game. With 14 goals and six assists in 21 games this season in La Liga, Artem Dovbyk, 26, has been in fantastic form and will once again lead the line for the title-chasing team. Regarding Real Sociedad, injuries have eliminated Arsen Zakharyan, Martin Merquelanz, Kairan Tierney, Aihen Munoz, Carlos Fernandez, and Ander Barrenetxea from the competition.
The visitors won’t be playing at full strength since Hamari Traore is with the Mali squad. Takefusa Kubo is representing Japan at the Asian Cup. Mikel Merino is back available following a suspension. Javi Galan, who joined the team on loan from Atletico Madrid this month, should remain as the left-sided wing-back. Bras Mendez, Mikel Oyarzabal, and Sheraldo Becker—all of whom started on the bench against Rayo the previous time out—are also anticipated to be called up.
Girona 2-1 Real Sociedad
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