Overview
Rayo Vallecano has somewhat reduced the fear of relegation in recent weeks. They have won two of their last three La Liga matches, including a 1-0 victory over Espanyol, thereby rising to 11th place in the standings.
The capital team is currently 5 points ahead of the relegation zone, and only 4 points behind eighth-placed Real Sociedad before the weekend round. Rayo still has a chance to compete for a European cup spot in La Liga, but a clearer path lies in the UEFA Europa Conference League, where Inigo Perez's team has reached the semi-finals and is preparing to face Strasbourg.
Los Franjirrojos will host Strasbourg in the first leg on April 30 before traveling to France on May 7 with the goal of winning a ticket to the final.
A noteworthy point is that Rayo's home form is quite stable. They have only lost 2 matches in La Liga this season, but drew up to 8 matches. This is the highest number of draws in the league at home, which could greatly affect the outcome of this weekend's match.
In the opposite direction, Real Sociedad has only won 3/15 away matches this season, and just suffered a 0-1 defeat to Getafe right at home.
Pellegrino Matarazzo's team is still not completely out of chance of entering the UEFA Champions League group, although this is an extremely difficult task. They will have to aim for the goal of winning all 6 remaining rounds and waiting for opponents to stumble.
Currently, Sociedad is in eighth place, 7 points behind fifth-placed Real Betis and 15 points behind the top 4. Notably, in the last 6 encounters in all competitions, Sociedad has only won once against Rayo and once lost 0-1 in the first leg in October. That is a statistic showing that this will not be an easy match for the away team.
Personnel situation
Rayo Vallecano will not have the service of Diego Mendez in this weekend's match due to injury, while Luiz Felipe, Randy Nteka and Alvaro Garcia must all have physical checks before the match kicks off.
Besides Mendez, the home team also lacks another important factor, Augusto Batalla, due to being suspended after receiving enough yellow cards in the match against Espanyol.
However, Inigo Perez also received positive signals when Nobel Mendy and Florian Lejeune are both ready to return after suspension.
On the other side, Real Sociedad has the return of Sergio Gomez after serving his suspension and he is likely to start as a left-back. However, Duje Caleta-Car is absent due to suspension after receiving enough yellow cards in the match against Getafe.
In addition, Inaki Ruperez and Alvaro Odriozola are definitely unable to play due to injury, while Igor Zubeldia, Aritz Elustondo, Goncalo Guedes and Jon Karrikaburu still have to wait for a fitness assessment at the last minute.
Expected lineup:
Rayo Vallecano: Cardenas, Balliu, Lejeune, Mendy, Espino, Gumbau, Lopez, Akhomach, Diaz, Martin, Camello.
Real Sociedad: Remiro, Aramburu, Martin, Gorrotxategi, Gomez, Turrientes, Soler, Kubo, Sucic, Barrenetxea, Oyarzabal.
The match between Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad takes place at 7:00 PM on April 26 (Vietnam time).
