Barcelona will look to get their first win of the season when they travel to San Sebastian to face Real Sociedad this Sunday.
Venue: Reale Arena (San Sebastian)
Key Statistics
Real Sociedad conceded just a league-low nine goals at home last season.
They also finished the last campaign with the lowest goals scored at home (16 goals).
They kept 14 clean sheets in 19 home games last season.
Barcelona are without a league goal in their last three league games.
The visitors are unbeaten in their last 13 away league games (W7, D5).
They are unbeaten in their last 15 head-to-head games against Real Sociedad.
Head to head
Barcelona have won 14 of the last 20 meetings between both sides while Real Sociedad have three wins.
Latest performances in all competitions
Real Sociedad: W-L-L-W-W
Barcelona: D-W-W-D-W
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad will look to make it two wins in two league games when they welcome Barcelona to Reale Arena this Sunday.
The hosts kicked off their 2022/23 La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win over Cádiz with 21-year-old Takefusa Kubo scoring the only goal to become the second youngest player to score on his league debut for the club in the 21st century.
Real Sociedad will now look to continue that momentum as they look to build on their top six finish of last season.
However, a game against Barcelona is by no means easy as the hosts have recently struggled against the Catalan side. A game against Xavi’s men used to be one of the easier games for Imanol Alguacil’s side as they went unbeaten against Barca at home between 2011 and 2018.
But since then, they have lost four of the six league matches they have played with the Catalan side in this stadium.
And so they will come into this tie desperate to get a win. Given that they started their last home campaign with five straight La Liga clean sheets (W4, D1) they will be hoping for another strong defensive showing this season.
Indeed Alguacil’s side were the best team defensively at home last season, conceding a league-low nine goals on this ground last season. Such a tight defence often led to one strike being enough last season, with ten of Sociedad’s last 14 home LL wins or defeats coming via a 1-0 scoreline.
Possible Real Sociedad starting line-up
Alex Remiro; Igor Zubeldia, Aritz Elustondo, Robin Le Normand, Aihen Munoz; Takefusa Kubo, Mikel Merino, Martín Zubimendi, Brais Mendez; David Silva, Alexander Isak.
Injured: Diego Rico, Carlos Fernandez, Martin Merquelanz
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Barcelona
After a summer of heavy spending and excitement, Barcelona could only muster a 0-0 draw in their first league game of the season last weekend.
The Catalan side were expected to hit the ground running after bringing in Polish hitman Robert Lewandowski and exciting Brazilian winger Raphinha. But despite the two men starting their game against Rayo Vallecano at Nou Camp last weekend, they could not break the deadlock.
Although Vallecano keeper Stole Dimitrievski was the star of the show, it did not hide the fact that Xavi’s men performed below their expectations, especially after their heavy investment in the summer and their fine form in pre-season.
The result extended their wait for a league goal and a league win to three games following two goalless draws at the tail end of last season. With the likes of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid already off with a flyer, Barca will aim to win this game and keep themselves within touching distance of the top.
Given that they have won each of the last five meetings between both sides, they will fancy their chances of getting their first win of the season in this fixture.
Possible Barcelona starting line-up
Marc Ter Stegen; Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba; Frenkie de Jong, Franck Kessie, Pedri; Raphinha, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ousmane Dembele.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Sergio Busquets
Prediction
Real Sociedad 1-3 Barcelona
