Betis have lost three times in a four-game period once before this La Liga season, but that previous such instance across January and February was then followed by 14 points in six matches, a pattern that manager Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping to repeat against the only top-four side that Betis have already defeated this La Liga season.
Real Betis
This top-five clash between Real Betis and Real Sociedad took on a new dimension after the weekend when the gap between the two clubs in the La Liga standings widened from three points to six. That’s owing to Betis suffering their first loss to Osasuna (3-2 away) in 11 league H2Hs, and as a result, they’ve lost three of their previous four La Liga games. They have lost three times in a four-game period once before this La Liga season, but that previous such instance across January and February was then followed by 14 points in six matches, a pattern that manager Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping to repeat against the only top-four side that Betis have already defeated this La Liga season.
After their previous home La Liga outing (3-1 against Espanyol) returned their first 2 goal-winning margin in this competition since the reverse H2H, there is plenty for Betis to be optimistic about as they plot to snatch fourth place from Sociedad.
Real Sociedad
Sociedad’s top-four hopes and subsequent Champions League qualification is now firmly in their own hands after they capitalised on Betis’ mistake with a 2-1 victory at home to Vallecano, and as a reward, they have scaled the heights of 54 points in the first 30 rounds of a La Liga season for the first time in 20 years. There’s certainly no time for complacency or jubilation just yet with a run home that includes Betis, and the league’s top-three ranked clubs, none of whom they have beaten this La Liga season. Their travelling record against other highly ranked opposition is no better, as their two most recent La Liga away trips – a pair of 2-0 losses to fellow UEFA hopefuls Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao – ought to remind them.
A month after he controversially declared the Europa League Round of 16 as “too big for us”, manager Imanol Alguacil will somehow have to inspire his players to believe they are worthy of a potential place in UEFA’s elite club competition.
Betis’ Borja Iglesias has delivered goals in nine separate La Liga wins this season, including the reverse H2H. Sociedad’s Alexander Sorloth can top that, as his equaliser against Vallecano was his 12th consecutive winning goal-scoring appearance across all competitions this season! The seven meetings between Pellegrini and Alguacil were either drawn (x2) or decided by a 2 goal margin (x5).