Sociedad to show Champions League ambitions with Elche win

Sociedad’s record at the Anoeta coupled with Elche’s poor away form and the gulf in league position means La Real should be backed for a big win.

La Liga bears a passing resemblance to the Premier League at present; with three teams battling for the title while another three fight for fourth position and a place in the Champions League.

Sociedad sit nine points behind Athletic Bilbao, the side currently occupying the coveted spot, with a game in hand and will be in no mood to play second fiddle to their Basque rivals, with 8/15 offered on a home win, while visitors Elche are a distant 5/1 for victory.

These sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero this season and though a draw is 16/5 with the same score line 15/2, the hosts look too strong at home for such an outcome.

La Real have won five La Liga games in a row at the Anoeta and with four of these victories coming by a margin of two goals or more, the 7/5 on a Sociedad (-1) handicap win is tempting.

Goals appear to be the order of the day for the hosts whether home or away, with three or more total goals scored in 11 of their last 12 La Liga games.

Elche have found the net in five of their last six away games in the league, though they picked up just one win during that run and it’s 17/20 on both teams scoring while over 2.5 total goals is 3/4.

But with Sociedad on a great run, combining over 2.5 goals with a home win is 13/10, with this outcome hinging on the goalscoring efforts of Antoine Griezmann and Carlos Vela.

Griezmann has scored five in Sociedad’s last five home fixtures at the Anoeta in the league and is 9/2 to open the scoring with 13/10 on a goal at anytime.

Carlos Vela meanwhile has four over those previous five encounters and is fresh from adding to his tally in Real’s 3-1 win over Santander in the Copa del Rey.

The Mexican grabbed four in a win over Celta Vigo a few weeks back and while 4/1 to open the scoring and 6/5 to grab a goal at anytime, the 25/1 on a hat-trick could be one to look out for.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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