Real Sociedad v Elche – Betting Preview
Real Sociedad Summary
Real Sociedad drew 1-1 to Real Mallorca last weekend and then departed the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Considering they have not won in almost two months in the league, the overall sense is that Real Sociedad has hit a brick wall.
Despite the massive drop off in form, there is still reason to be optimistic in these testing times. They sit 3 points ahead of 5th placed Betis before both sides have begun their matches.
Sociedad’s only aim now that they are out of the Europa league is to try and qualify for Champions league next season.
The Basques will see anything less than a win here a complete disaster.
The mood is not terrible, but naturally there is some concern about the decline in form.
Looking at team news now for Sociedad, they are missing Umar Sadiq and Martín Merquelanz.
Aritz Elustondo is back fit but there is one important ban with Mikel Merino suspended.
Carlos Fernandez is also missing with a red card seen in the draw with Mallorca, but he is not a regular.
Elche Summary
After their first win over a month ago against Villarreal, the outlook had slightly improved for Elche. However, they never fully built on that boost, and now sit 13 points from safety in the La Liga 2022/23 table.
Even though their chances of staying up never moved notably upwards, Elche has shown they are not going down without a fight.
They got a late draw with Valladolid last weekend but it did little for them in their battle to beat the drop, as they need wins and not draws, particularly in home matches.
The probable outcome is that they are doomed to going down as the 20th placed side, but even with that in mind, Elche is putting in good effort and commitment into their matches.
At worse they are now playing for pride and the certain players will be playing for their places next season.
Team news wise they have key man Pere Milla out with a suspension, and this is a big attacking loss.
Pape Cheikh meanwhile sits out his third of three games banned.
Enzo Roco and Magallán are missing due to injuries too, leaving Elche notably weaker in all lines.
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 market first. Sociedad is the big favourite to win @ 1.40. Elche is almost at a stage where every game is necessary to take three points to keep hopes alive. They are @ 9.25 to win. The draw is @ 4.75.
Moving onto the Asian handicap betting for this contest. Sociedad -1.25 @ 1.92 looks fair. They have not been playing well but team news favours them.
Elche +1.25 is @ 1.94 but would need Sociedad to play well below par and them show more effectiveness if they are to avoid any type of loss.
Looking at The Under/Over goal betting last of all. The line is set at 2.5, the over is @ 2.00 and the Under is @ 1.83.
