Preview: Eibar vs. Real Sociedad - prediction, team news, lineups

Eibar will be looking to give their hopes of survival a boost when they continue their La Liga campaign at home to Real Sociedad on Monday evening.

The home side are currently bottom of the table, seven points from the safety of 17th position, while Real Sociedad, who beat Celta Vigo in their last match on Thursday, occupy fifth spot.

Match preview

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It is not quite last-chance saloon for Eibar, but there is no question that another poor result on Monday evening would leave them in a very difficult position in the table as the matches start to run out.

A record of four wins, 11 draws and 17 defeats from 32 matches has seen the strugglers collect 23 points, leaving them bottom of the table, seven points behind 17th-placed Alaves on the same number of games.

Los Armeros will enter this match off the back of four straight defeats, while they have conceded nine times in their last two losses to Atletico Madrid and Granada, which means that confidence is likely to be low.

Jose Luis Mendilibar's side also have the worst home record in La Liga this term, winning just one of their 15 matches and collecting only nine points, which has been a huge part of their struggles in 2020-21.

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Real Sociedad, on the other hand, are enjoying a successful La Liga season, with a total of 50 points from 32 matches leaving them in fifth position in the table, while they beat Athletic Bilbao in the final of the rearranged 2020 Copa del Rey final earlier this month.

The Basque outfit have only lost eight times in Spain's top flight this term, just one fewer than fourth-placed Sevilla, but they are 17 points off the top four and therefore the Champions League spots are not open.

Real Sociedad will be determined to finish as the best of the rest, though, and they appear to be in a three-way fight with Real Betis and Villarreal for fifth spot, which would represent a strong campaign.

The White and Blues will enter this contest off the back of a 2-1 victory over Celta on Wednesday, with Portu and Adnan Januzaj on the scoresheet for the home side in San Sebastian.

Imanol Alguacil's team ran out 2-1 winners when they travelled to Eibar for the corresponding match last term, but the pair played out a 1-1 draw when they locked horns earlier this season.

Team News

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Eibar will again be without the services of Eduardo Exposito, Yoshinori Muto, Pedro Bigas and Roberto Correa on Monday evening through injury.

Mendilibar is expected to make a couple of changes from the side that started against Granada, with Cote and Quique Gonzalez in line for starts, but the head coach could still keep faith with the majority of his players that featured last time out despite the disappointing result.

On-loan Sevilla attacker Bryan Gil should again start in attack alongside Alejandro Pozo and Kike, while Recio is expected to retain his spot in the middle of the park.

As for Real Sociedad, Carlos Fernandez and Aritz Elustondo are both suspended due to the bookings that they picked up against Celta last time out.

The Basque outfit also still have a long injury list, with Joseba Zaldua, Mikel Merino, Robin Le Normand, Martin Merquelanz, David Silva and Asier Illarramendi among those unavailable for selection.

Modibo Sagnan and Igor Zubeldia are in line for starts at the back, while Mikel Oyarzabal should also return to the first XI, having been named on the bench against Celta.

Eibar possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Arbilla, Oliveira, Alvarez, Cote; Recio, Diop, Gonzalez; Gil, Kike, Pozo

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Gorosabel, Sagnan, Zubeldia, Monreal; Januzaj, Guevara, Guridi, Portu; Oyarzabal; Isak

We say: Eibar 0-1 Real Sociedad

Eibar can take confidence from the fact that Real Sociedad will again be missing a number of important players, but we are finding it very difficult to back the home side; it should be a tight match on Monday evening, but Alguacil's team should have enough to secure all three points.