Real Sociedad return to Anoeta seeking first points and to halt 10-game winless run | OneFootball

Real Sociedad return to Anoeta on Saturday seeking their first points against RCD Espanyol. As reported by AS, stadium works forced two away starts that ended in defeats to Betis and Real Madrid.

The fixture comes with a 10-match Liga run without a win, eight from last season and the first two now. Matarazzo is only the second coach in the club’s history to reach 10 top-flight games without victory, after José Mari Bakero in 2006. Ending it would settle the dressing room and keep last season’s jitters under Sergio Francisco from returning.

The American coach has called up Mamadou Sarr, the only signing so far, even though his loan without a buy option was completed hours before kick-off and he has trained only once at Zubieta. He said early immersion matters, that Sarr should feel the stadium’s energy and learn procedures despite missing pre-season.

Pablo Marín and Álvaro Odriozola remain sidelined, while Jon Karrikaburu, Pacheco and Mikel Goti are omitted for technical reasons. Karrikaburu is finalising his exit to sign for Burgos.

On the positive side, Jon Gorrotxategi returns after pubis trouble since pre-season. Gonçalo Guedes is again included and Ander Barrenetxea remains available after a calf knock at La Cartuja and minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu.

For Espanyol, San Sebastián is their first trip of the campaign and a test of whether their form travels. They beat Levante 3-0 at Cornellà-El Prat and pushed Real Madrid before losing 1-2 to a last-minute goal.

Source: AS

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”