MARK O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) takes a look at Real Sociedad’s Monday night trip to Elche in La Liga.
Elche v Real Sociedad | Monday 19.45
David Moyes takes his Real Sociedad troops to Elche on Monday night looking to end a three-match winless streak. Not since the Scot arrived in the Basque region have La Real gone longer than three games without a victory but there’s plenty of reason to believe the visitors won’t leave the Martínez Valero empty-handed.
Inigo Martinez will be missing for Sociedad but Mikel Gonzalez should slot into the back four whilst the return of Carlos Vela should boost Moyes’ men in attack. Despite only claiming one away win in 16 (W1-D8-L7), La Real have improved on their travels under the former Manchester United boss and are becoming a tough unit to beat.
Atletico Madrid made light work of Sociedad in their last away day and whilst the W1-D5-L4 return from Moyes’ 10 matches on the road may look poor, the four defeats came against the defending champions, Valencia, Villarreal and Real Madrid. It might be baby steps but the club is certainly in better shape now under the Scot than it was when he arrived in Spain.
Elche remain deep in the battle for La Liga survival but Los Franjiverdes boast a three-point cushion above the drop zone after seeing off rock bottom Cordoba 2-0 in their last outing. Their W4-D3-L9 return from fixtures played at the Martínez Valero is ordinary with the hosts actually picking up a point more on their travels despite playing a game less.
The hosts have failed to score in three of their last five outings and failed to net in exactly half of their 16 games on home soil. Since Fran Escriba took the reigns at Elche they’ve W10-D11-L14, failing to net on 17 occasions. Los Franjiverdes have also failed to get the better of any side in 7th and above under Escriba’s charge.
Real Sociedad might be sitting in 12th but are traditionally a top-half club and I just get the feeling they’re slowly making strides to regain their status in La Liga’s pecking order after a turbulent start to the season. Having W6-D4-L0 in their last 10 head-to-head against their struggling hosts and only suffered two defeats in seven journeys to the Martínez Valero, I’m looking to find a way of supporting Moyes’ boys.
BetVictor have gone 8/11 on Sociedad +0.25 on the Asian Handicap line and that looks fair. With this selection, our stake is split across Sociedad 0 (effectively Draw No Bet) and Sociedad +0.50 (effectively Double Chance).
This means that should the visitors win, both parts of our selection will be successful, handing us a full pay-out. It also means that should the fixture end all square, we’ll get half of our stake returned and half would be deemed a winner too. The only way we wouldn’t make money is if Elche come out on top.
At 8/11 it might look a touch short but it’s worth a wee poke if you’re feeling confident Sociedad won’t lose.
Best Bets
Elche v Real Sociedad – Real Sociedad +0.25 (8/11 BetVictor)
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