Barcelona will be looking to recover from consecutive defeats and hang on to their weak title hopes when they face Real Sociedad at Camp Nou on Saturday. The two teams have met three times this season, and Barcelona secured two victories in Copa del Rey after a 1-1 draw in the reverse league fixture in November. Real Sociedad beat Barcelona 1-0 at home last season, but lost 4-0 at Camp Nou. In fact, Barcelona have won their last sixteen matches at home against Real Sociedad.
Barcelona are going through a bleak period, their amazing comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League was followed by two LaLiga defeats in five matches and a 3-0 defeat at Juventus earlier this week. They are three points behind leaders Real Madrid at the moment, a title challenge is still possible, but Real Madrid are in far better shape and also have a game in hand. Barcelona will have to do without Neymar, who is suspended for three league matches, while Javier Masquerano might be sidelined by a muscular problem.
Real Sociedad recovered from a four-match winless streak with a 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon last weekend, a result which keeps them in sixth place. A top-four finish is out of reach for Sociedad now, but they can still play in the Europa League if they manage to remain in the top six. In-form Eibar are just two points behind Sociedad in seventh place, so the visitors still need any points they can get. Juanmi is suspended for this match, while Alvaro Odriozola and goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli are injury doubts.
Probable line-ups:
Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Roberto, Pique, Mathieu, Alba - Suarez, Busquets, Gomes - Messi, Suarez, Alcacer
Sociedad: Rulli - Zaldua, Navas, Martinez, Yuri - Prieto, Illaramendi, Zurutuza - Vela, Jose, Oyarzabal
My prediction: Barcelona to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Barcelona win - 1.17
Draw - 6.50
Sociedad win - 17.00
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