Girona look to continue exceeding expectations in their debut La Liga season as they play host to Real Sociedad. Girona do not look like a team participating in the top flight of Spanish football for the first time in their history, bouncing back from a less than fantastic start to sit tenth after eleven matches.
Despite an opening day draw with the mighty Atletico Madrid, they looked to be out of their depth with just one win from eight. But, they have gone on to win their next three including a fabulous 2-1 victory over champions Real Madrid last month. That win has boosted the confidence throughout the club and they followed it up with an away victory at Levante. They will truly believe they can beat anyone now and a victory here would lift them to just a point outside the top six. Recent League Form – WWWLDL.
Spanish La Liga – Estadi Montilivi, Girona – Friday 17th November – 20:00 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 23/10 at Ladbrokes |
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FC Girona
Real SociedadReal Sociedad
Sociedad finished sixth last season and are looking to push on from that, with an even higher placed finish being the target for this season. They started the campaign well enough, winning their first three, but then went on a run of just one victory from seven. That run was ended last time out with a 3-1 victory at home to Eibar, and they will look to pick up maximum points again here. That win keeps them just two points outside the top six, in seventh place, and two points ahead of their opposition for this match. They have won three of their five away from home this season so will be confident of winning this match, despite losing their most recent match on the road at Getafe. Recent League Form – WLDWDL.
Head to Head
This is the first ever top flight meeting between these sides. They have met four times before, all in the Spanish Second Division, and the head to head is level. Both sides have picked up one victory apiece and there have been two draws. Real Sociedad haven’t actually scored in two visits to Girona, with a goalless draw in 2008 followed by a 1-0 defeat in the most recent meeting in February 2010. It has been a long time since they last played each other though, so previous meetings shouldn’t really have an impact on the outcome of this match.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Just two points, and three league places, separate these sides so the betting odds were always going to be extremely close. Girona are the slightest of betting favourites with Coral, priced at 29/20, with Sociedad at 8/5. The draw is priced at 12/5, which provides the best value in the match result market and is also the outcome of 50% of the previous meetings. If this match had been before Girona’s run of three wins on the bounce, we would have predicted a convincing away victory. However, since that run and the morale boost it would have given the home side, it’s difficult to choose between the two.
For that reason, we are going to give a tentative prediction of a draw. But, we wouldn’t be risking our house on it. If you do fancy one of the teams to pick up a victory, it may be best to cover yourself by betting on them in the Draw No Bet market. Girona are priced at 13/8, with Sociedad at 8/5, but punters will receive their stake back if the match ends all-square.
Perhaps the best market in search of a profit would be Both Teams to Score. Both sides have netted in each of the last five Girona league matches, and five of Sociedad’s last six, so it’s highly likely both sides will score here. Coral offer odds of 8/13 for Both Teams to Score, and is our bet of the day for this match.
Top Betting Tip
As mentioned above, our top betting tip for this match is Both Teams to Score. This is priced at 8/13 with Coral and looks the best bet to make a small profit.