Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid Predictions & Match Preview

Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid predictions

Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid predictions and match preview for Saturday’s LaLiga fixture. Read on for analysis, team news and predicted lineups as Diego Simeone takes his team to Donostia.

DateSaturday 3rd September 2022
Kick-Off18:30 (local time)
StadiumReale Arena
CompetitionLaLiga

Real Sociedad vs Atletico Madrid Preview


Real Sociedad stadium

Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid clash in Donostia this weekend. It’s the second big name visitor to the Reale Arena already this season after Barcelona won here on matchday 2 but it has been a strong start from La Real apart from that defeat.

They did well to win at Elche last weekend despite being left with hardly any senior attacking options after they sold Alexander Isak to Newcastle for a huge €70m fee. They’ve signed not one but two strikers to help fill that void since the Elche game. Alexander Sørloth returns for another loan spell while they managed to complete a deadline day deal for Umar Sadiq with the striker moving from Almeria for €20m.

Sadiq has already demonstrated his qualities with two goals already this season for the new boys and on the surface he looks a pretty good replacement for Isak and there will still be plenty of cash in the bank should La Real need to strengthen in January. There’s every chance Sadiq will be thrown straight into the team here given he is clearly match fit and looking sharp having played in all of Almeria’s games so far this season.

As for Atletico Madrid, it was a relatively quiet and in some ways quite strange summer. The addition of former Real Madrid player and boyhood supporter Sergio Reguilón was a bit of a surprise this week and he will fill the hole left by Renan Lodi who wanted first-team football at Nottingham Forest. Their biggest summer signing Nahuel Molina couldn’t have made a worse start after he saw red and gifted Villarreal the decisive opening goal on his home debut. Meanwhile fellow new arrival Alex Witsel has slotted into an unfamiliar central defensive role.

The Antoine Griezmann situation is also odd with Atleti seemingly unwilling to play him too much to prevent activating a clause in his contract that would force them to buy him next summer. Yet despite some of those worries, it feels as though Atleti fans have more reason to be positive than they did throughout much of last season. They’ve won both road games so far to nil and have looked a bit more solid defensively while Diego Simeone looks to have found a bit more clarity in attack with Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix seemingly the preferred duo.


Team News & Possible Lineups


Real Sociedad

Possible XI: Remiro – Munoz, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Gorosabel – Merino, Zubimendi, – Kubo, Silva, Mendez – Sadiq (4-2-3-1)

Coach: Imanol Alguacil

Atletico Madrid

Possible XI: Oblak – Reinildo, Witsel, Gimenez – Carrasco, De Paul, Kondogbia, Koke, Llorente – Felix, Morata (3-5-2)

Coach: Diego Simeone

Sorare LaLiga fantasy football preview

Score Prediction: Real Sociedad 1-1 Atletico Madrid


This is a tough one to call. There will be a good atmosphere with plenty of early season optimism in Donostia whilst Umar Sadiq’s arrival will certainly generate a lot of excitement amongst the locals. Atleti were impressive at Getafe on matchday one but haven’t been entirely convincing since and they may have to settle for a point here.


PLEASE NOTE – Our LaLiga predictions are not betting tips! No profits are guaranteed if you’re using them to bet on Spanish football. If you are gambling, do so responsibly and never stake more than you can afford to lose. BeGambleAware.

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About Mark Sochon 2057 Articles
Mark is a freelance writer based in Madrid. He has been writing about Spanish football since 2014 and regularly attends and covers matches across Spain. His work has also been published by various newspapers and websites including These Football Times, World Soccer and Guardian Sport. Available for freelance work: marksochon (at) hotmail.co.uk