Overview
Elche is currently 19th in the La Liga standings after 3 rounds, only getting 1 point from 1 draw and 2 defeats. Eder Sarabia's team has only scored 3 goals but conceded 9 times, thereby revealing many problems in the defense.
Elche started the season with a 1-1 draw against Deportivo La Coruna. Despite being led, the home team Manuel Martinez Valero still managed to equalize to get points. However, the 2 matches afterwards revealed more clearly their limitations.
In their first home match, Elche suffered a 0-5 defeat to Barcelona. After that, they continued to suffer a 2-3 defeat to Racing Santander. More worryingly, Elche let the opponent score 3 goals in just the first 36 minutes. Two consecutive goals by Buba Sangare and Fer Nino in the 78th and 79th minutes helped the away team narrow the gap, but it was not enough to change the result.
Last season, Elche stayed in the league with 43 points and finished 15th, only 1 point ahead of the relegation group. Therefore, a difficult start like the current one could put this team under a lot of pressure if they do not improve their performance soon.
In the opposite direction, Real Sociedad is 11th after 4 matches with 4 points, including 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses. Last season, they finished 10th but won a ticket to the Europa League thanks to the Copa del Rey championship.
Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo's team lost 0-1 to Real Betis and 1-4 to Real Madrid in the first two rounds, before defeating Espanyol 2-1 thanks to goals from Ander Barrenetxea and Orri Oskarsson. After that, Sociedad drew 0-0 with Celta Vigo at home.
Head-to-head history also leans towards Real Sociedad. Elche has only won 1 in the last 10 encounters, while Sociedad has 8 wins and 1 draw. In the last 5 encounters, Sociedad is unbeaten with 4 wins and 1 draw.
Personnel situation
Thomas Lemar of Elche has physical problems and is likely not to be able to participate in the upcoming match.
Adam Boayar has returned to full training after a long period of muscle injury treatment that caused him to miss the final stage of last season as well as the entire pre-season preparation process. However, Boayar's ability to be registered for competition is still uncertain.
Yago Santiago continues to be absent as he recovers from knee endoscopic surgery in May. Elche has not yet determined when this player may return.
On Real Sociedad's side, Alvaro Odriozola continues to be sidelined due to a anterior cruciate ligament injury to the left knee. Jon Pacheco is also unable to participate due to injury.
Pablo Marin will miss his fourth consecutive match in the recovery process. The absence of this midfielder is likely to help Carlos Soler and Luka Sucic continue to play an important role in Real Sociedad's midfield.
Expected lineup:
Elche: Dituro, Sangare, Chust, Redondo, Bigas, Valera, Buonanotte, Villar, Aguado, Houary, Nino.
Real Sociedad: Remiro, Gomez, Martin, Zubeldia, Aramburu, Barrenetxea, Herrera, Turrientes, Kubo, Oyarzabal, Oskarsson.
The match between Elche and Real Sociedad takes place at 2:30 a.m. September 8 (Vietnam time).
