Real Sociedad (1 win, 0 losses, 0 draws) will welcome Barcelona (0-0-1) to Estadio Anoeta Sunday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET. Below, we preview the Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona odds and lines, and make our best La Liga bets, picks and predictions.
Real Sociedad won their 1st league match against Cádiz 1-0. They dominated the game, posting 1.7 expected to Cádiz’s .3. That game was on the road as well.
Last year’s leading scorer F Mikel Oyarzabal, who had 9 goals on the season, did not play in the team’s opener as 21-year-old Takefusa Kubo scored the team’s lone goal.
Barcelona added phenom F Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich in the offseason, and despite him seeing time in the match, they drew their opener 0-0.
Barcelona has 2.1 expected goals to Rayo Vallecano’s .9. Barcelona will be one of the few teams with the pace and talent to keep up with Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table.
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Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona odds, lines, picks and predictions
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:01 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Real Sociedad +250 (bet $100 to win $250) | Barcelona +107 (bet $100 to win $107) | Draw +255
- Over/Under: 2.5 (O: -125 | U: +100)
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Prediction
Barcelona 2, Real Sociedad 1
Money line (ML)
BET BARCELONA (+107).
Getting Barcelona in a league matchup against anyone other than Real Madrid at plus-money odds is a gift. Barcelona drew last weekend, but they were the clearly superior side.
Barcelona had 16 more shots and more than double Rayo’s attempts on target. Star F Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also only got 9 minutes, and if he’s more involved Sunday, the goals should come easier for the road side.
Barcelona won both matches against Real Sociedad last season by a combined 5-2, winning 1-0 on the road. Given that Sociedad didn’t play that well in its opener, I would side with Barcelona coming out on top at this value.
Over/Under (O/U)
LEAN OVER 2.5 (-125).
Barcelona and Real went over this total once last season, a 4-2 win at Camp Nou. It’s difficult to bet against goals with the elite talent that Barca has up top.
Also, Rayo did have a few extremely quality chances last weekend.
On the side of Sociedad, it was able to find the back of the net and had 15 shots, putting 8 on target. Their shooting percentages show they should be able to get some shots on target Sunday.
Both teams went under this total in their opener, but both also had over 1.5 expected goals. Against each other, I expect goals to be plentiful.
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