Europa League: Sociedad and Leipzig Going Down to the Wire

Real Sociedad vs RB Leipzig

A spot to the Europa League quarter-finals is up for grabs when Real Sociedad and RB Leipzig switch venues to the Reale Arena for the second leg of their tie this Thursday evening.

The first leg ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw as neither side are were willing to concede, but something has to give here once and for all.

After their first leg match last Friday, both sides went on to continue their domestic campaigns in the Bundesliga and La Liga which yielded very different results.

The Red Bulls remain unbeaten in their last three games as they’re coming off of a 6-1 annihilation over Hertha BSC. In stark contrast, Real Sociedad were a victim of a thrashing by Basque Derby rivals Athletic Bilbao with a tally of 4-0.

Despite their contrasting results this past week, though, the pre-match SBOTOP betting odds predict another close affair between these two sides.

Talking Points

Real Sociedad must shake off stinging defeat

La Real were left with a lot to reflect on following their disastrous performance against Athletic Bilbao during their previous Basque Derby matchup.

Prior to the yesterday’s game, Real Sociedad have only lost twice in their last 10 meetings, and the odds were favouring Imanol Alguacil’s side to get another victory.

For the first 67 minutes, it felt like Real Sociedad were about to take the win, but a rare goal from Bilbao centre-back Dani Vivian ignited the San Mames crowd. And then when the floodgates were busted open by Oihan Sancet, Iker Munlain, and Inaki Williams, the home fans were in pandemonium.

Not only did Athletic Bilbao won emphatically to put them back into European contention, they also secured a piece of history in the process. They hadn’t scored four goals past Real Sociedad since 1977 and the last time they won the derby by at least four goals was in 1959.

In what started as a promising campaign for Real Sociedad, now it’s deja vu all over again as they’ve fallen to seventh in the La Liga table.

Imanol Alguacil may be content about their first leg performance against RB Leipzig last weekend, but it’s clear that his side can perform much better on Thursday especially with the quality players at his disposal.

RB Leipzig firing on all cylinders

Since the appointment of Domenico Tedesco last December, RB Leipzig have played with more cohesion in the final third as they’ve scored at least two goals in 10 of his 11 games in charge.

Their most recent victory over Hertha BSC highlights their offencive resurgence as five different scorers were featured, and all of them are available for this upcoming game.

Christopher Nkunku is the team’s most prolific attacker with 19 goals and eight assists, and it’s no surprise that he’s a hot commodity in the transfer market. Manchester United is one of Nkunku’s biggest suitors while Arsenal are closely monitoring his status.

Other than Nkunku, Andre Silva has also hit double digit goals this season with 12 goals and three assists, while Emil Forsberg and Dominik Szoboszlai have 13 goals and seven assists combined.

History

Despite their subpar record against German opposition, Real Sociedad will fancy their chances in advancing to the next round given their experience advantage over RB Leipzig in major European competitions.

The 2-2 draw in their first leg was the fourth time that La Real have drawn in the first leg of a knockout tie away from home. In the last three times that this happened, Real Sociedad have progressed to the next round.

La Real have only lost once in their last 16 knockout home games in the Europa League (W12, D3). Eventual runners-up Manchester United were the last team to defeat them at home in such fixture last February 2021 (4-0).

Furthermore, RB Leipzig have lost three of their last four away matches in the Europa League, including both of their last two during the 2018/19 group stage when they took on Celtic and RB Salzburg.

Betting Tip

	Real Sociedad vs RB Leipzig	Total Goals 2-3 @ 1.82
	February 25, 01:45 (GMT+8)

Real Sociedad are the slightly favoured side in the Europa League 2022 odds. They are priced to win at 2.59, while an RB Leipzig victory is at 2.70 and chances for a draw are at 3.10 in the 1×2 market.

Given how things went last week, this is a tough contest to call on who will win. But we’re sure that La Real and Die Roten Bullen will generate a healthy amount of goals and Europa League 2022 highlights – making our recommendation a viable bet.

 

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