BETDAQ’s Greg Walker is back with his first preview of 2014 – an in-depth preview of Sunday’s La Liga clash (7pm SKY) between Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao.
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He now previews Real Sociedad v Athletic Bilbao…..
Euskal Derbia….
As with most national football leagues, derbies are quite common however Spain’s La Liga seems to have more than most. Game week eighteen hosts the famous Basque derby when Athletic Bilbao nip across the city to be welcomed by arch rivals Real Sociedad. Both teams are having excellent seasons with Bilbao sitting just above Sociedad in fourth place having accumulated four points more halfway through the season. For Sociedad it has been a particularly tiring first half of the season having also participated in the group stages of the Champion’s League. The experience will have been enjoyable for both fans and players despite finishing bottom of a group consisting of Man. Utd, Leverkusen and Shaktar accumulating just the one point. The winter break will have been a welcome rest and you can be sure that after having that taste of Champion’s League football that Sociedad will be going all out to secure a place in Europe’s premier competition for next season.
Phantom form?….
The experience of the Champion’s League football will have been welcome by the Sociedad players however they must have been quite shocked by the gap between it’s own La Liga. For a team who pride themselves on fast flowing offensive football they could only score one goal in their six group stage games. This is a team who, outside the top three in Spain, are the top goal scorers having hit the back of the net thirty three times this season. French youth international Antoine Griezmann is another exiting talent to grace La Liga and he has bagged eleven of those goals. Ex- Arsenal hit man Carlos Vela has also chipped in with an impressive eight goals along with two from the excellent and very experienced captain Xabi Prieto. There is currently a doubt on Prieto starting due to injury which will be a huge blow to Sociedad’s chances of claiming all three points. The ‘white & blues’ goals and form have been good enough to get them to fifth place but one has to question their opposition to date. Their last four victories came against Granada, Real Betis, Espanyol and Celta Vigo. They were expectedly beaten by Real and Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona. At home they could only draw nil all with a transitional Malaga and draw one all with a practically just assembled Seville team. The Champion’s league games also showed Sociedad their limitations in only securing that one point and one goal.
Onwards and upwards….
Having successfully tipped up a play on Athletic Bilbao to take down the mighty FC Barcelona a few weeks ago then the Basque team’s positive attributes is still fresh in our minds. The player I highlighted in that preview to step up to the plate and have a major influence was young Iker Muniain and he certainly did that by getting the only goal of the game to secure a famous victory for ‘Los Leones’. Since that victory they have drawn with a fast improving Seville in a game where they were the better side and beat Rayo Vallecano. The two goals to one defeat of Vallecano does not tell the full story as both sides missed a hat full of chances and another night could have finished ten goals to four to Bilbao. Whilst Athletic have many strengths they are a little weak in defending particularly defending corners with six feet two inch goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz never in a hurry to come and dominate his area. For this game though Sociedad will not pose much threat in this area with their main goal scorers Griezmann and Vela standing at just five feet seven and five feet ten respectively.
May the best team win….
Unlike most other derbies the ‘Euskal Derbia’ is usually played in good spirits with only one red card in the past eight meetings of these teams. Both of these teams are on a good run but in my opinion this is the first serious test that La Real will have had in La Liga since their defeat away to Real Madrid way back in early November. On the other hand I do feel Bilbao have had a much tougher run yet sit four points above their hosts. The visitors are unusual in that they do not posses an out and out striker but the goals are shared throughout the team which in itself will make life very difficult for the Sociedad defence. This will be a game full of passion and Sociedad’s players and fans will be full of confidence but as mentioned above that confidence will drop should Prieto not be fit to start. The hosts will fly out of the traps but I just feel that Bilbao will be able to soak up the early pressure and ease their way into the game under the calming influence of coach Ernesto Valverde . Quite often in football it is simply the better team that comes out on top and for this game I do feel that Athletic Bilbao are the better team…..just….
Betting on BETDAQ – Greg’s Tips:
BACK -Athletic Bilbao- TO WIN 3 POINTS @ 3.6
BACK ‘ANYTIME GOALSCORER’ – ‘MIKEL SAN JOSE’ 1 POINT @ 8.0
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