Our prediction for this Primera Division match:
Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos will host Saturday’s football game between Almeria and Real Sociedad, the two teams with entirely different ambitions for the 2023/2024 La Liga campaign. Almeria are desperate to secure yet another Primera Division survival, but they are low on confidence following four consecutive defeats in the Spanish top flight. All Ibrahima Kone, Luis Suarez, Marc Pubill, and Martin Svidersky are out of contention with injuries, while defender Alex Centelles is a major doubt and he will be assessed ahead of the kick-off.
La Real, on the other hand, aim to represent Spain in the Champions League for yet another season and they will not have a better chance than this to make amends for an unlucky loss to Barcelona. Real Sociedad are more of a team than Almeria and we predict that the Basques are going to prove their worth on the field. Keep in mind, though, that both Brais Mendez and Igor Zubeldia are banned for the match.
Highlighted Player (Mikel Oyarzabal):
Intelligence is not an attribute you will find in Mikel Oyarzabal’s stats with Real Sociedad but this tricky winger is a highly knowledgeable winger who will use both brain and feet while playing. For a player born in Eibar, who made his first steps in his hometown club, it was always going to be a choice between Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad for Oyarzabal.
La Real saw their chance and grabbed this gem of a player at a young age, helping him develop into a proper professional throughout their youth ranks. Mikel Oyarzabal has spent the entirety of his senior career with the Basque behemoths where he’d use his ability to fill in a number of positions up top much to his own benefit.
Oyarzabal’s positioning and movement are work of a tactical genius, whereas it is his nous to find details to exploit that best define him as a player. Having come through the youth categories of the Spanish national team, Oyarzabal also has a senior cap next to his name. It was in 2016 that he also represented the Basque region, scoring on his debut to cap a 3-1 win over Tunisia.
Highlighted Team (Almeria):
UD Almeria is a Spanish club based in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Los Rojiblancos are one of the newer additions to the Spanish football system, with the club being founded on July 26, 1989.
Almeria suffered relegation to Segunda Division in the 2014/15 season, and they have been competing in the Spanish second tier ever since. Los Rojiblancos are well known for their white shirts with red stripes, while blue is the dominant colour of their away jersey. Sofiane Feghouli, Felipe Melo, Diego Alves, Veljko Paunovic, Aleix Vidal, Alvaro Negredo, Tomer Hemed, and Mate Bilic are some notable footballers who played for Almeria in the past. Fellow Andalusian clubs Sevilla, Malaga, and Granada are considered the club’s fiercest rivals.
The club’s biggest success in Copa del Rey came in the 2010/11 season when they made it to the semis of the prestigious competition. Nonetheless, Catalan giants Barcelona proved to be a big catch for Almeria in the Spanish Cup semi-finals.