La Liga: Another Real Test For Granada

Granada vs Real Sociedad

There’s more top-six La Liga action to look forward to on Sunday, when Granada takes on Real Sociedad in a fascinating clash at the Estadio Los Carmenes.

The 19,000-seater stadium will be bouncing for this game, as Granada try to continue their superb start to their first season back in the top flight.

We at SBOBET reckon this could be one of the games of the weekend, with all three results well in play and only one point separating the two sides.

An away win would see Real Sociedad leapfrog their hosts, but the La Liga new boys are making their home in Los Carmenes a fortress, with three home wins on the run.

Remarkably, Granada and Real Sociedad are in the group of six all within three points of Barcelona at the summit, but both teams suffered midweek setbacks in the league and will want to bounce back straight away.

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Serie A

Talking Points

El Grana punching above their weight

What a return to the top flight it has been for Granada, possibly above their fans’ wildest expectations.

The pre-season La Liga 2019 betting odds featured Granada as a potential relegation candidate, and that’s the norm for newly promoted sides in any of Europe’s top leagues. But they have performed consistently, rising to third in the La Liga table, having taken ten points from the first five games of the season and another ten from the second five.

Only two teams in La Liga have a lower salary cap, and in a recent win over Real Betis Granada’s starting line-up cost around £7m in total!

Head coach Diego Martinez took El Grana to promotion from the Segunda Division in his first season at the helm. This term he has been careful to manage expectations in Granada, recently saying his team and Barcelona belong to different universes before beating the champions and La Liga favourites 2-0!

It was, without any doubt, one of the biggest La Liga 2019 results of the season so far, and that kind of humility is serving Martinez well.

At the beginning of the month Granada were at the wrong end of a 4-2 result in an entertaining clash against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, but they acquitted themselves well and responded with back-to-back wins.

Martinez plays a 3-5-1 formation with a back three of Domingos Duarte, German Sanchez and Martinez Gil, with ex Spurs star Roberto Soldado often the lone striker. They defend as a collective with all eleven players fighting for every ball and with a never say die approach. 12 of his squad are local boys from Andalusia.

But they had a disappointing night on Thursday with a 3-1 defeat at Getafe, in a bad tempered game which included ten yellow cards (five for each team).

Granada dominated possession and shots on goal, but were simply not clinical enough at either end of the pitch.

Sociedad searching for consistency

Three defeats and three victories in the last six games tells its own story for La Real, and a 2-1 home defeat to mid-table Levante was hardly ideal preparation for this tough test.

Real Sociedad have avoided defeat in each of their last five games at Los Carmenes in La Liga, with 3 wins and 2 draws — Real Sociedad players celebrate after scoring a goal

Top scorer Willian Jose climbed off the bench and was on target again within two minutes of his arrival, but not before La Real went down to a two goal deficit before the break. Despite dominating possession and having 17 shots on goal, they couldn’t get that crucial second.

Head coach Imanol Iguacil has seen his side make plenty of opportunities but all too often let them slip through their fingers. They led in an away game to Sevilla before going down to a 3-2 defeat, and they will need to hold on to any advantage they can get in Andalusia.

Skipper Mikel Oryarzabal is a talented wide player and leads from the front, already weighing in with four goals for the season.

History

La Real have the advantage in the head-to-heads, with seven wins to Granada’s three, and there have been four draws in the 14 meetings since 2011.

Sociedad did the double the last time the two teams met in La Liga, and Granada haven’t won any of the last four against these opponents.

Betting Tip

	Granada vs Real Sociedad	Granada Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 2.16
	November 4, 04:00 (GMT+8)

This game could go any which way. The hosts are at 2.95 to win, with Sociedad at 2.51 and the draw available at odds of 3.00.

Granada have won the last three home games by a 1-0 score line, and their fans will be willing them on to make it four. The prize is to keep hold of their top three place and the Andalusians will do all they can to strengthen that grip against more illustrious opponents.

The 1-0 score line is available at odds of 7.20, but 1-1 at 5.20 is the most likely outcome.