Preview: Real Sociedad vs Espanyol – prediction, team news

Espanyol will be bidding to build on an excellent opening-weekend win over Atletico Madrid when they continue their La Liga campaign with an away fixture against Real Sociedad on Sunday night.

The hosts started their 2025-26 campaign with a 1-1 draw against Valencia at Mestalla, while their visitors came from behind to record a 2-1 victory over Diego Simeone’s Atletico team in gameweek one.

Match preview

Real Sociedad fell behind in the 57th minute of their clash with Valencia on the opening weekend of the new La Liga season, but they answered back three minutes later through Takefusa Kubo, and it finished 1-1 at Mestalla.

La Real had a difficult 2024-25 campaign, finishing 11th in the table, which proved to be their lowest ranking since 2018, and there will be no European football on offer at the club this season.

Now led by Sergio Francisco, who has replaced Imanol Alguacil at the helm, the Basque outfit will be expecting to be in and around the top six come the end of the season, but it has been a very quiet transfer window.

Indeed, Real Sociedad have only made two signings thus far, bringing in Goncalo Guedes from Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Duje Caleta-Car has made the switch on loan from Lyon.

The White and Blues have actually won each of their last five La Liga matches against Espanyol, including a 2-1 victory in the corresponding fixture during the 2024-25 campaign.

Espanyol’s last La Liga win over Real Sociedad came in November 2021, and that is their only victory in their last nine matches against the Basque team, suffering eight defeats in the process.

There has not actually been a draw between Espanyol and Real Sociedad since October 2017, while recent history suggests that this will be a difficult 90 minutes of football for the visitors.

However, Manolo Gonzalez’s side will enter this match full of confidence, having opened their 2025-26 La Liga campaign with an excellent home victory over Atletico.

The White and Blues, who finished 14th in La Liga last season, fell 1-0 behind to Atletico in the 37th minute of their opening-weekend clash, but Miguel Rubio and Pere Milla scored to help Espanyol record a 2-1 win.

The Catalan side have been incredibly busy during this summer’s transfer window, with their biggest arrival in terms of a transfer fee proving to be Roberto Fernandez, who has joined from Braga following a successful loan spell.

Real Sociedad La Liga form:

D

Espanyol La Liga form:

W

Team News

Real Sociedad are again likely to be missing Jon Gorrotxategi due to an ankle problem, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape ahead of their clash with Espanyol.

Mikel Oyarzabal is set to lead the line for the Basque outfit, while there could be a full debut for Caleta-Car following his appearance off the bench in the clash with Valencia last time out.

There has been speculation surrounding the future of Kubo this summer, but the attacker is set to remain with Real Sociedad, and he will again feature in a wide area for La Real.

As for Espanyol, Javi Hernandez is missing through injury, but no fresh issues have been reported.

Rubio scored off the bench against Atletico, and there could now be a spot in the middle of the defence for the number 15, while Milla was another goalscorer, and he is in line to feature from the first whistle.

Javi Puado is the captain and a vital player for the Catalan outfit, and the number seven will also be a notable starter for the visitors to Anoeta Stadium on Sunday night.

Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:

Remiro; Aramburu, Zubeldia, Caleta-Car, Munoz; Kubo, Mendez, Turrientes, Marin, Barrenetxea; Oyarzabal

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Cabrera, Rubio, Romero; Terrats, Lozano, Exposito, Milla; Fernandez, Puado

We say: Real Sociedad 2-2 Espanyol

As mentioned, there has not been a draw between these two sides since October 2017, but we are expecting the points to be shared on Sunday, with Espanyol having enough quality to secure a draw against Real Sociedad.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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