Athletic Club vs Real Sociedad: La Liga preview

La Liga

Athletic Club

D19 Sep · Athletic Club 0-0 AlavésD17 Oct · Valencia 0-0 Athletic ClubL21 Oct · Levante 3-1 Athletic ClubW25 Oct · Athletic Club 4-0 GetafeW29 Oct · Prat 1-6 Athletic Club

VS

Real Sociedad

W11 Oct · Real Sociedad 3-2 Deportivo La CoruñaD15 Oct · Union St. Gilloise 1-1 Real SociedadW18 Oct · Málaga 2-5 Real SociedadW22 Oct · Lillestrøm 0-6 Real SociedadW25 Oct · Real Sociedad 2-1 Levante

Sunday 1 November 2026 · 21:00

Read our prediction →Read the post-match analysisTrack Record

Athletic Club host Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday night, with a sharp contrast in recent form and visitors carrying serious momentum into the match.

Form guide

Athletic Club’s last five results have brought two wins, two draws and one defeat. Their most recent outing was a 6-1 away win over Prat in the Copa del Rey, four days after a 4-0 home victory over Getafe in La Liga. Four days before that home win, they had lost 3-1 away to Levante, and four days earlier still had drawn 0-0 away at Valencia. Their fifth most recent result was a 0-0 home draw with Alavés, played 28 days before the Valencia fixture. In their two home league games among their last five, Athletic Club have won once and drawn once, keeping clean sheets in both. In the two away league games among that run, they have not won once and have scored only one goal.

Real Sociedad arrive with four wins and one draw from their last five. Their most recent match was a 2-1 home win over Levante on 25 October. Three days before that, they won 6-0 away at Lillestrøm in the UEFA Europa League, and four days before that they had beaten Málaga 5-2 away in La Liga. Three days before the Málaga win, they drew 1-1 away at Union St. Gilloise in the Europa League, and four days before that they had beaten Deportivo La Coruña 3-2 at home. Real Sociedad have won all three of their last five matches played in La Liga, scoring ten goals and conceding five across those games. In the one away league game among those three, they scored five and conceded two.

Head to head

The last five competitive meetings between these sides have produced three Real Sociedad wins and two draws, with Athletic Club yet to win any of them. The most recent fixture was a Copa del Rey meeting on 4 March 2026, when Real Sociedad won 1-0 at home. Before that, Athletic Club hosted Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey on 11 February 2026 and lost 1-0. A La Liga meeting on 1 February 2026 ended 1-1 at Athletic Club’s ground. On 1 November 2025, Real Sociedad beat Athletic Club 3-2 at home in La Liga, and the fixture on 4 May 2025 — also at Real Sociedad — finished 0-0. Both teams scored in two of the five meetings, and the five games produced nine goals in total.

Team news

Athletic Club are without three players. Unai Egiluz and Gorka Guruzeta are both ruled out with knee injuries, and I. Ruíz de Galarreta misses out with a hamstring injury. Ruíz de Galarreta had made nine appearances this season before his injury, while Guruzeta had made five.

Real Sociedad also have three absentees. Luken Beitia and Arsen Zakharyan are ruled out with ankle injuries, while A. Odriozola is ruled out with a knee injury.

What to watch

Athletic Club head into this game seventh in La Liga with 12 points from nine games, while Real Sociedad sit fifth with 19 points from ten. Real Sociedad’s scoring rate of 1.90 goals per La Liga game is higher than Athletic Club’s 1.33, though Real Sociedad have also conceded 1.80 per game compared with Athletic Club’s 1.00.

Athletic Club come into this match having played three days ago, while Real Sociedad last played seven days ago. That extra recovery time may matter in a fixture where both sides will need legs.

Athletic Club’s home La Liga record shows they have scored 1.80 goals per game and conceded 0.80 across five home league matches this season. Real Sociedad’s away league record is free-scoring: 2.40 goals per game scored and 2.20 conceded across five away league games. Over their last four matches, Athletic Club have averaged an xG of 1.21, while Real Sociedad’s average xG across their last five matches is 1.86. Real Sociedad’s xG against in their last five matches averages 1.61, which reflects how open their games tend to be.

The bookmakers make both teams scoring a 59% chance and over 2.5 goals a 55% chance. Athletic Club are priced as the more likely winners at 45%, with Real Sociedad at 28% and a draw at 27%.

Closing

Athletic Club carry the home advantage, but Real Sociedad's run of form, their free-scoring away record in La Liga and their superior head-to-head record in recent meetings make this one of the trickier home assignments the hosts will face this season.