Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad: TV channel, live stream, squad news & preview

Los Blancos will be hoping to bounce from a disappointing 2-2 against Villarreal when they host Real Sociedad on Sunday evening

Real Madrid could cut the gap to top of the table Barcelona with a victory against Real Sociedad this weekend.

The side from the Spanish capital trail the leaders by seven points but, should they overcome the Whites and Blues, Real could reduce the deficit to just four.

As for the visitors, they are enduring something of a disappointing season and look likely to be involved in a relegation battle.

Sociedad have picked up just 19 points from their 17 matches and are three points ahead of the drop zone.

In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the l ive sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

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In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be streamed via Eleven Sports 1.

Gareth Bale was a huge doubt for this one, in the week where he was criticised by former forward Predrag Mijatovic , and he does indeed miss out.

The Welshman was replaced at half-time by Isco in the last outing, but instead it is teenager Vinicius Jr. who has been handed his first La Liga start in place of the former Tottenham man.

Real are still without Marcos Llorente, Mariano Diaz and Marco Asensio, who are all are missing through injury.

Confirmed Real Madrid staring XI : Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Vazquez, Benzema, Vinicius Jr.

Sociedad have a problem at left-back where on-loan Theo Hernandez is ineligible to play against his parent club, and back-up Kevin Rodrigues is injured. 

First-choice goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya also looks likely to miss the match through injury, meaning Geronimo Rulli should start between the sticks.

Joseba Zaldua and Andoni Gorosabel missed La Real’s last game before the Christmas break, but could return for the trip to the Bernabeu.

Long-term absentees Martin Merquelanz and Raul Navas remain unavailable, while midfielder Luca Sangalli continues to recover from a mild stroke he suffered in October .

Confirmed Real Sociedad starting XI: Rulli; Elustondo, Llorente, Moreno, Munoz; Illarramendi, Zurutuza, Merino; Janujaz, Oyarzabal, Jose

The hosts are big favourites for this one and can be backed at 1/3 with bet365 . The bookmakers will offer 13/2 on an unlikely Sociedad win, while a draw is 5/1.

Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.

This is Madrid’s second game back following the Spanish winter break, while this is the visitor’s first match since a 1-0 defeat to Alaves on December 21.

Since then Los Blancos have won the Club World Cup, beating Al Ain in the final 4-1 , and have also returned to La Liga action.

Solari’s men conceded a late equaliser against Villarreal on Thursday , however the result means Real are now unbeaten in their last four league matches.

Since being appointed as manager in November, Solari has seen his side slowly rise up the table, but his ultimate aim is to catch leaders Barcelona at the league’s summit.

“The objective is to continue climbing positions, the beginning has not been easy and we have gone from ninth to fourth,” he said.

“The competition is open and we have to continue to cut [Barcelona’s advantage] and go to each battle to win it. We had a good first half in Villarreal but it cost us the points for not scoring our chances.”

After this fixture, Madrid are involved in a two-legged Copa del Rey tie against Leganes, which are  separated only by Los Blancos’ La Liga game against Real Betis next week.

Real also face Ajax in the Champions League last 16 next month and Solari wants his side to be able to compete on three fronts in the latter stages of the season.

“We face three competitions and we’ll try to put in all the energy levels,” he said. “The rivals change and their characteristics, the players are not machines. Nobody has had less vacation time than us, the players put all their effort in.”

When Sociedad last travelled to the Bernabeu the hosts ran out as comfortable 5-2 winners thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick and strikes from Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal.

Imanol Alguacil’s men will be hoping for better this time around, although they may be concerned at just how close the gap has got between themselves and the bottom three.

A run of four straight defeats before Christmas saw Alguacil replace former coach Asier Garitano at the Basque club.