🏏 Thu, 3 Sep 2026 21:00 CEST
Real Sociedad
vs
Celta Vigo
4-2-3-1 vs 3-4-3
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- A meeting of two sides in early trouble: Real Sociedad are 13th on three points from three matches with a minus-three goal difference, while Celta Vigo sit 16th on a single point from one draw and two defeats, also at minus three. With Barcelona already clear on nine points, neither of these clubs can afford to let the gap widen further at this stage.
- The form lines are unflattering. Sociedad were beaten 4-1 away at Real Madrid on the opening weekend and 1-0 at Real Betis before finally getting off the mark with a 2-1 home win over Espanyol. Celta earned a goalless draw at Valencia but lost both home games, 2-1 to Osasuna and 2-0 to Athletic Club, and have scored just once in three outings.
- Japan international Takefusa Kubo starts in the number 14 shirt among Sociedad's attacking three. The 25-year-old right winger, a left-footer who came through FC Tokyo before joining Real Madrid and taking in loans at Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe, is at his best drawing defenders in tight areas before releasing a through ball or cutting inside. Against a back three, his choice between hugging the touchline and drifting into the half-space will shape Sociedad's right side.
- Up front, captain Mikel Oyarzabal (29) leads the line alongside Orri Oskarsson (22), signed from FC Copenhagen for a club-record 20 million euros. Oyarzabal is the left-footed finisher who scored the winning goal in the Euro 2024 final, while Oskarsson is Iceland's captain and a 186cm target man who holds the ball up. Getting those two profiles working together is the key to reviving an attack that has managed only three goals.
- Sociedad's double pivot pairs the homegrown Beñat Turrientes (24), comfortable as either an anchor or an interior, with Yangel Herrera (28), the 184cm Venezuelan who came through Manchester City and broke through at Girona. Celta answer with Ilaix Moriba (23), a La Masia graduate who has also played for RB Leipzig, Valencia and Getafe, and Miguel Román (23), a Galician who worked his way up from Pontevedra. Whoever wins the duels here controls the tempo.
- Celta's back three is anchored on the left by 35-year-old Marcos Alonso, the 188cm left-footer who won the Premier League and the Champions League at Chelsea and later played for Barcelona and Fiorentina. He is flanked by 22-year-old academy product Joel Lago and Álvaro Núñez (26), a converted attacking right-back. Behind them stands Romania international Ionuț Radu, the 188cm former Inter goalkeeper tasked with tightening a defence that has shipped four goals in three games.
- There is a homecoming on the Celta bench: Javi Galán (31) spent a spell at Real Sociedad during a career that took him from Córdoba and Huesca to Vigo, then on to Real Sociedad, Atlético Madrid and Osasuna before returning to Celta. Just 170cm tall, the left-back relies on pace, relentless up-and-down running and an accurate left-footed cross. If he comes on, the trip to Anoeta carries extra meaning for him.
- Sociedad's left-back Sergio Gómez (25) is a Barcelona academy graduate who passed through Borussia Dortmund and Anderlecht before collecting six trophies at Manchester City, and his left-footed delivery is a genuine weapon. Celta's 3-4-3 fields two natural right-backs in midfield, Sergio Carreira (25, 170cm) and Javi Rueda (24), so the flanks become the battleground against Sociedad's 4-2-3-1 and recovery speed will matter as much as the overlaps.
- Both benches carry game-changers. Celta can call on Iago Aspas, the club's all-time leading scorer, who at 39 still has the left foot and free-kick technique to settle a tight match in one moment. Sociedad counter with Carlos Soler (34), a former mainstay at Valencia and Paris Saint-Germain, Portugal forward Gonçalo Guedes (29) of Benfica and PSG pedigree, and Arsen Zakharyan (23), the ex-Dinamo Moscow playmaker known for his dribbling in confined spaces.