As such, Gareth Bale looks a little like a lone soldier for this one, just as he did last time out against Rayo. The encouraging part? That went pretty well. CURTO DE LA TORRE/Getty ImagesFor the hosts, meanwhile, Saturday's clash with Madrid has a curious feel to it. In normal circumstances, you'd expect Real Sociedad to give the men from the capital an attritional battle, given their recent history for doing just that against the elite and the upswing in form since Eusebio Sacristan replaced David Moyes. But here, La Real won't look much like, well, La Real. Suspended, leading forward Carlos Vela will be missing. So too will strikers Jonathas and Imanol Agirretxe. Key centre-back Inigo Martinez is also out.
VillarrealW: 1-0 vs. BarcelonaW: 5-1 vs. GetafeW: 2-1 vs. SevillaW: 3-0 vs. WolfsburgL: 0-1 vs. Las PalmasW: 4-0 vs. EibarB/R UKTeam NewsFor Real Sociedad, a significant reshuffle will be required from Eusebio, with La Real missing a number of key figures. In defence, leading centre-back Martinez is sidelined with a knee injury, meaning Diego Reyes will likely drop back from midfield and into the heart of the back four alongside Mikel Gonzalez.
"Typically Madrid would like their chances of doing so and overwhelming the Basques, but for this clash, Zidane and Co. are heading north well below full strength. Indeed, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema will be absent because of injury and are in a race against time to be fit for Wednesday's crucial second leg against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. Also missing will be Toni Kroos (rested), while Zidane is expected to rotate as well.
Real Sociedad vs. Real Madrid: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV InfoGonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty ImagesSo Take 3, then. After consecutive matchdays in which La Liga's trio of contenders have all gone at it in this suddenly juicy title race, one after another in frenetic strings of back-to-back-to-back affairs, here we are once more, ready to do it all over again for a third time in 10 days. On Saturday, Real Madrid start it all off in the afternoon's earliest kick-off, just as they did last weekend against Rayo Vallecano.
Real Madrid - Real Sociedad » Live Score & Stream + Odds