Real Sociedad vs Man United preview & prediction

Match preview

The top spot in Europa League Group E is on the line on Thursday night at the Anoeta Stadium, as Real Sociedad and Manchester United square off to determine their knockout fate.

Imanol Alguacil’s side leads the Red Devils by three points and only needs to avoid defeat on their own turf to send the visitors to a knockout round playoff tie.

Real Sociedad’s Europa League campaign has been marked by perfection, but the same cannot be said for their recent La Liga efforts, as Alguacil’s men seek to recover from back-to-back domestic defeats to ensure a last-16 place in Europe’s secondary tournament.

Sociedad enters the final matchday as the only team in the 2022-23 Europa League to have won all five of their group matches, the most recent of which was a 2-0 win over Omonia last week, thanks to goals from Robert Navarro and Brais Mendez.

After falling victim to Mendez’s controversial 59th-minute penalty on the first day of the Europa League, Manchester United have recovered admirably to ensure that they will at least be in the running for the knockout round playoffs after four consecutive victories.

Of course, only one man made headlines prior to his return to the squad for last week’s visit of Sheriff Tiraspol, where Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension with a bang, scoring the third of his side’s three goals on the night after Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford also netted in a 3-0 victory.

A one-goal victory over Sociedad will not be enough to secure top spot for Manchester United, who must win by at least two goals on Thursday to automatically qualify for the last-16 and avoid being one of the teams dropped from the Champions League.

Real Sociedad vs Man United H2H

Man Utd	0 – 1	Real Sociedad
Man Utd	0 – 0	Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad	0 – 4	Man Utd

Real Sociedad vs Man United form guide

Real Sociedad’s last 5 games – LWLWD

Real Sociedad	0 – 2	Real Betis
Omonia Nicosia	0 – 2	Real Sociedad
Valladolid	1 – 0	Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad	1 – 0	Mallorca
Celta Vigo	1 – 2	Real Sociedad

Man United’s last 5 games – LWWLL

Man Utd	1 – 0	West Ham
Man Utd	3 – 0	Sheriff Tiraspol
Chelsea	1 – 1	Man Utd
Man Utd	2 – 0	Tottenham
Man Utd	0 – 0	Newcastle

Key stats

Manchester United have a slight edge over Real Sociedad in European competitions and have won two out of the five matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Real Sociedad’s one victory.
Real Sociedad won their first-ever European game against Manchester United in the reverse fixture and also scored their first official goal against the Red Devils in this match.
Manchester United have lost their last two matches against Spanish opponents in European competitions, with a defeat against Atletico Madrid last season followed by a loss to Real Sociedad this year.
Real Sociedad have won their last two home games in the UEFA Europa League – as many victories as they had managed in the 10 such games preceding this run.
Manchester United have lost six of their last seven away games in the UEFA Europa League and have scored an impressive 19 goals during this period.
Real Sociedad have completed 61 high turnovers in the UEFA Europa League this season – more than any other team in the competition so far.

Real Sociedad vs Man United prediction

Attacking absences should hurt the hosts against a Man United team that has been a defensive force to be reckoned with in recent weeks, and we can see the Red Devils securing the two-goal margin required to beat Sociedad to the top spot, Hence we go with the following pickings in this fixture: