Will the Basque defence hold?
For the first time since the 2017/18 season, RB Leipzig will participate in the knockout round of the Europa League. Back then, the Red Bulls eliminated Napoli and St. Petersburg before reaching the quarter-finals against Marseille. Today’s guests Real Sociedad, on the other hand, have reached the Europa League semi-finals twice, losing to Salzburg in 2017/18 and Manchester United last year.
Germany has not been a good place for the Basques either, who have yet to win in four visits to Germany (one draw, three defeats). With this in mind, the odds are swinging in favour of the Saxons ahead of the first leg between RB Leipzig and Real Sociedad.
Much will depend on the visitors’ defence, which has kept a clean sheet in five of their last six competitive matches and conceded just six goals in the Europa League preliminary round. Accordingly, it is interesting to bet on under 2.5 goals for RB Leipzig against Real Sociedad.
After all, no team is likely to want to go through the wall, especially in view of the fact that the away goals rule has been overturned.
RB Leipzig – Statistics & current form
RB Leipzig finished the 2020/21 season as runners-up and qualified for the Champions League. After the red bulls had made it through the preliminary round twice in a row, RBL had to settle for third place in Group A this time.
In the end, the zero-point start with three defeats at the beginning prevented anything bigger. But with a 2-2 draw against PSG, a 2-1 win over Manchester City and a 5-0 thrashing of Brugge, the Saxons still managed to finish third.
Five wins in the last six competitive matches
For the first time since 2017/18, RB Leipzig are now in the knockout stages of the Europa League as they look to continue their strong run under new coach Domenico Tedesco. The Red Bulls have recently won five of their last six competitive matches, only narrowly losing 3-2 to Bayern.
The Saxons also enjoyed a successful dress rehearsal on Friday, when they defeated 1. FC Köln 3:1 at home. A result that puts Leipzig in a Champions League starting spot for the first time ever in the 2021/22 season.
Won three of six home games in the Europa League
The red bulls will be looking to build on their fundamentally good home record in the Europa League, where they have won three of their six home games so far (one draw, two defeats) – including two wins in the knockout phase of this competition.
At any rate, the bookmakers have the reigning German runners-up as favourites in their own stadium.
Predicted line-up of RB Leipzig:
Gulásci – Angelino – Gvardiol – Orbán – Klostermann – Henrichs – Haidara – Laimer – Olmo – Nkunku – Silva
Last matches played by RB Leipzig:
1st Bundesliga
02/11 2022 – RB Leipzig 3 – 1 1. FC Köln
02/05 2022 – Bayern Munich 3 – 2 RB Leipzig
01/23 2022 – RB Leipzig 2 – 0 Vfl Wolfsburg
DFB Cup
01/19 2022 – RB Leipzig 2 – 0 Hansa Rostock
1st Bundesliga
01/15 2022 – VfB Stuttgart 0 – 2 RB Leipzig
Real Sociedad – Statistics & current form
Real Sociedad won last year’s late Copa del Rey 2020 final in April, and the Basques also climbed from sixth to fifth in the league, once again earning a direct ticket to the Europa League.
Here, after a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg and a 2-1 defeat away in the second leg, they were unable to get past AS Monaco. Despite winning just two of their six group games, La Real moved into second place with an impressive 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on matchday six to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals for the third time in the club’s history.
Still without an away win in Germany
However, in this first knockout game of the second most important European competition for club teams, the last two appearances were end of the line. Overall, the spring is also not a good time for the Basques to play internationally. In six European matches in the first quarter of the year, La Real remained winless (two draws, four defeats).
In addition to these unimpressive figures in the decisive games, there is also a weak record in Germany. Real Sociedad have visited Bundesliga representatives four times for a competitive European match and have yet to win a single away game (one draw, three defeats).
White card in five of the last six competitive matches
At least at national level, however, the Basques certainly bring momentum with them. Imanol Alguacil’s side have lost just one of their last eight competitive matches and also enjoyed a successful dress rehearsal on Sunday in a 2-0 win over Granada. The defensively strong northern Spaniards have not conceded a goal in five of their last six matches.
With this in mind, RB Leipzig’s betting on a good result at the Red Bull Arena against Real Sociedad is not out of the question. Moreover, due to the omission of the away goals rule, a 0:0 would also count as such a good result, which is why we expect La Real to be defensive-oriented.
Predicted line-up of Real Sociedad:
Remiro – Munoz – Le Normand – Elustondo – Gorosabel – Merino – Zubimendi – Oyarzabal – Silva – Januzaj – Isak
Last matches played by Real Sociedad:
LaLiga
02/13 2022 – San Sebastian 2 – 0 Granada
02/06 2022 – Valencia 0 – 0 San Sebastian
Copa del Rey
02/03 2022 – San Sebastian 0 – 4 Real Betis
LaLiga
01/23 2022 – San Sebastian 0 – 0 Getafe
Copa del Rey
01/19 2022 – San Sebastian 2 – 0 Atletico Madrid
RB Leipzig – Real Sociedad Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Never before have both teams faced each other in a competitive match. Accordingly, there is no “head to head” data available that could be used in the prediction for RB Leipzig vs Real Sociedad
RB Leipzig – Real Sociedad tip
Under Domenico Tedesco, RB Leipzig are blossoming again these days, impressing in equal measure with good results and a completely different way of playing football. For the first time in the 2021/22 season, the Saxons are back in a Champions League starting spot, which should certainly provide confidence against defensively strong Basques.
We assume that no team will want to force an early decision in the first leg. The pressure for an away goal is also obsolete due to UEFA’s new regulations, which is why we expect a defensive and counter-attacking guest.
