Betis-Real Sociedad is a match of the 31st day of La Liga and is played Tuesday at 10 pm: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
Betis to reopen the race for fourth place, Real Sociedad to close it permanently. The challenge scheduled at Sevilla’s “Benito Villamarin” is certainly the most interesting of this midweek league round and could delineate once and for all the hierarchies in the upper echelons of the La Liga standings.
For the green-and-whites, it is perhaps one of the last calls to regain that Champions League qualification that is in danger of slipping away at the finest moment just as it did last year. In the last four days the team coached by Manuel Pellegrini has scraped together only three points, the result of the home win against Espanyol. Otherwise, almost exclusively defeats have come since April. Most notable was last Saturday’s one remedied at home to Osasuna, which was already leading by two goals after 11 minutes of play. Unsuccessful were the comeback attempts by Betis, which, after shortening the gap with a Miranda goal, cashed in the third before momentarily returning to the locker room. It ended 3-2 in Pamplona, a misstep that amounts to a blow to the Andalusians’ fourth-place ambitions. Real Sociedad, in fact, didn’t have it repeated twice: they beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 and stretched the gap (+6) to the chaser.
Last Champions call for Betis?
Imanol Alguacil’s men, despite the far from continuous performance – they haven’t won two matches in a row since January – have a real “match point”.
Oyarzabal
A possible victory in the Andalusian city would in fact allow them to fly to +9, effectively mortgaging the fourth place and consequently also the Champions placement. Conversely, everything would reopen, with Betis returning to -3 with seven games still to play. Real Sociedad, who have not finished fourth in the league since the 2012-13 season, last won against the green-and-whites in 2020 and in the first leg were forced to surrender 2-0 in front of their home crowd at the Anoeta. Formation chapter: Alguacil rejoins Le Normand, who was disqualified against Rayo, while Pellegrini will have to do without Victor Ruiz, Sabaly and Fekir.
The Prediction
There will be no shortage of entertainment in this potentially decisive challenge for the Champions race between two teams that have been dueling since the start of the tournament. The greatest pressure will be on the shoulders of Betis, which, thanks to the boost of its public, should at least avoid defeat in a very balanced match, with at least one goal on each side.
The probable formations of Betis-Real Sociedad
- BETIS (4-3-3): Rui Silva; Ruibal, Luiz Felipe, Pezzella, Miranda; Guido, William Carvalho, Guardado; Luiz Henrique, Ayoze Pérez, Borja Iglesias.
- REAL SOCIEDAD (4-3-3): Remiro; Aritz, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Aihen; Zubimendi, David Silva, Merino; Brais, Kubo, Oyarzabal.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1