Real Sociedad vs Rayo Vallecano Prediction: The Basques will hold on to fourth place in the standings

Saturday's pool of the 30th round of the Spanish La Liga will continue with Real Sociedad facing Rayo Vallecano. The Basques are struggling to hold on to their place in the top four, while Madrid is struggling to keep their place in the Eurocup competitions, but they are not doing so very willingly or so.

After the break, the team had two 2:0 home wins over Elche and Getafe and two away defeats to direct rivals Villarreal and Athletic by the same score of 0:2. On the one hand, the Basques' current league position has worsened. On the other hand, they continue to hold their position in the Spanish top four with just fourth place and three points more than their closest pursuer Betis. Third place is no longer in question, with Real Sociedad trailing Atletico by 9 points. The Basques have the 8th-best home record in the division, +7=4-3, 17:12 goal difference.

After a long 8-match losing streak, Rayo Vallecano beat Osasuna 2:1 on home soil last matchday. Thanks to this win, Rayo is ahead of Osasuna and sits 8th in the Spanish league table at the start of Matchday 30. Potentially, the team from the capital could still contend for seventh place, even sixth, but something tells us that Rayo Vallecano, guaranteed their place in next season's standings with 40 points, will stop there. Rayo's away stats are eighth in the division, +4=5-5, 14:17 goal difference.

As we wrote in the description of Rayo, there is a feeling that the Madrid side, having picked up 40 points, will calm down and concentrate on some internal tasks and preparation for next season. It is doubtful that the Bees care about the Europa League, especially since the Europa League, which could potentially attract the team from the capital, will face Atletico and Villarreal, and if Osasuna wins the cup, Betis as well. The odds certainly do not favor the Bees, who have won just once in their last nine games. Real Sociedad is an entirely different story. Despite their recent setbacks in away games, the Basques hold on to fourth place, have a 3-point handicap over Betis, and are not going to lose points in a home match against a mediocre side that has essentially already decided its goals in the current championship. We believe the Basques will retain fourth place in the Spanish standings with a confident 2:0 win over the capital city.

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