Barcelona v Real Sociedad – Copa del Rey – Quarter Final
Barcelona Summary
Barcelona’s spirits and confidence on the pitch are strong despite some ongoing issues off it.
On the back of the Spanish super cup final victory against bitter rivals Real Madrid last week, they cruised through a 1-0 weekend win over Getafe in the league. They played that match at a low intensity, keeping one careful eye on this more demanding test against the inform side of Real Sociedad.
Sitting top of the league and with the Supercup already in the trophy cabinet, Barcelona’s morale is excellent as they chase a domestic triple.
They know this is a much more difficult contest than the previous Copa del Rey round against Ceuta, and so Xavi will send out his strongest side.
Barcelona has everyone available. The boss rested numerous starters on the weekend and both Ferran Torres and Lewandowski were suspended and now return. This leaves them full strength and fresh.
Real Sociedad Summary
Real Sociedad is enjoying a fantastic season so far and would be over the moon if they could overcome Barcelona in the cup and make the semi-final.
The Basques won yet again on the weekend in a difficult venue at Vallecas against Rayo. That win means they continue to be Spain’s most in-form club. They have now clocked up eight consecutive competitive wins.
Imanol Alguacil has a few injury concerns heading into this extremely difficult quarter-final match. On top of the numerous existing absences detailed below, they could be without playmaker David Silva who pulled out of training early on Tuesday with a knock.
Although it isn’t expected to be serious, Silva is most likely to be rested on Wednesday and given a chance to make a full recovery before facing Real Madrid in a huge game next weekend
Mikel Merino, Turrientes, Barrenetxea, and Sola remain out. as well as those there are the potential season-ending injuries to Carlos Fernández, Umar Sadiq, and Merquelanz.
In some good news, the holding midfielder Zubimendi is back from a ban.
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 market first. The favourite for this game is Barcelona which is priced @ 1.57. Both teams are in excellent mood and form, the draw is @ 4.05 while the Sociedad win is @ 6.00.
Moving onto the Asian handicap market for this contest. Barcelona is giving away a full-goal start to Real Sociedad which looks a little flattering. Barcelona would need to win by 2 or more to get a full win @ 1.96. Real Sociedad won’t fear the host much and they have won their last 8 games, beating some big teams along the way. Sociedad is +1 @ 1.860 which would be the preference.
Looking at The Under/Over market last of all which saw a significant drop from a line of 3.5 down to 2.5. The Over is @ 1.83 while the Under is @ 1.90. No preference at all here.
