Real Sociedad to be without two key players for tricky trip to Villarreal – Football España

Real Sociedad dropped points against Osasuna at El Sadar on Saturday night, as they look to avoid falling too far behind in the race for the top four. While it is early in the season, La Real are five points off Atletico Madrid in fourth, and two behind rivals Athletic in sixth, many see Girona as one of their main competitors, and now the gap has been widened to 12 points.

Next up for Real Sociedad is another tough trip to come in La Liga, after they face Andratx in the Copa del Rey, traveling to La Ceramica to take on Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine are submerged in midtable, but have won three of their four matches since Marcelino Garcia Toral took over.

Real Sociedad will be without Robin Le Normand, who is suspended after picking up his 5th yellow card against Osasuna. Meanwhile Ander Barrenetxea is also out, with Imanol Alguacil stating that ‘I think he will miss two games for certain, and we hope it won’t be much more’ to Marca. He has an ankle sprain and will miss multiple weeks of action.

Without Le Normand, Aritz Elustondo and Jon Pacheco will compete for a spot alongside Igor Zubeldia, in a like for like replacement. Barrenetxea has been in good form on the left side of La Real’s attack, but with Umar Sadiq finding form in their recent games, Alguacil will likely play him through the middle. The left side will likely be covered by captain Mikel Oyarzabal, who has had further time to recover from his muscle strain after coming off the bench in Pamplona.