Football – Spain – La Liga
Monday 20th April 2015 – Kickoff: 2045hrs
Elche broke a run of four La Liga matches without a win last weekend when they beat bottom club Cordoba 2-0 to ease their own relegation worries. However, they will be tested again on Monday night with the visit of David Moyes’ stubborn Real Sociedad outfit, despite holding home advantage.
Not that home advantage has really helped Elche in recent weeks as they’ve lost three of their last four at their Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero with defeats to Real Madrid, Valencia and Getafe although they did manage a 1-0 win over fourth from bottom club Almeria in-between the recent losses.
Elche’s home record stands at a slightly disappointing 4-3-9 12/28 with goals not always being an easy task as they’ve failed to score in four of their last six on home turf, while at the other end they’ve kept just three clean sheets to date. In fact, Elche have failed to score on a total of eight occasions at home so far.
This last statistic I daresay will play nicely into Moyes’s plans as his Real Sociedad side make the trip to Elche on Monday night as they look to improve upon their away performances and results. In a controversial 2-2 draw with Deportivo La Coruna, they appeared to be the better side but the referee seemed intent on grabbing the headlines for himself in a woeful display.
Sociedad’s away record stands at a below-par 1-7-7 10/24 but overall, they’ve lost just once in their last six La Liga matches which was an understandable 2-0 defeat away at Atletico Madrid. But it’s uncanny how similar David Moyes’ old Everton side and Real Sociedad seem to be, and I wouldn’t mind betting that his side make a serious challenge for a top eight finish this season.
Elche have been inconsistent on home turf while Real Sociedad look to be a much more solid outfit these days. I’ll back the visitors with the round ball tonight with a view to them perhaps nicking this 1-0.
Pick: Real Sociedad AH0 @ 2.10 Bet Victor
