H2H: Rijeka vs Real Sociedad – Prediction (Europa League

Preview and Teams Comparison.

Franko Andrijasevic scored four goals across his last six Rijeka appearances and was involved in both goals during their UEL qualifier semi-final (one goal, one assist). Sociedad forward Willian José scored five goals across their six UEL group stage games in 2016/17, four of which came away from home. Sociedad have lost just one of their last 13 competitive games as away favourites (W9, D3, L1). They netted an average of 3.0 goals per fixture across the last eight such games.

Rijeka Insights.

Croatian cup winners Rijeka welcome La Liga’s (LL) Real Sociedad for the first time. The Croats could struggle given their seven-game winless run vs Spanish opposition in European competition (D4, L3) since toppling Real Madrid 3-1 back in 1984/85. More recently they met Sevilla in the 2014/15 group stage and trailed 1-0 at HT in both games (D1, L1). Rijeka have won all but two games since their domestic cup triumph (W7, L2) including two wins ‘to nil’ in European qualifiers. Notably, Rijeka have never won 3+ consecutive European fixtures since a six-game run in 2014, though the final win in that run came during the qualifying final and was dashed in round one of the group stage (2-0 vs Liege).

Sociedad Insights.

Real Sociedad are rightful favourites given Spain’s top UEFA coefficient ranking in comparison to Croatia’s 20th. However, this is Sociedad’s first game vs Croatian opposition, though the last European meeting between Spanish and Croatian teams saw a 4-0 victory for Sevilla over Zagreb in 2016/17. The visitors have a positive record in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) group stage winning four of their last six such clashes (L2), each without reply. Moreover, three of their four away games in their last UEL campaign saw over 1.5 first-half goals, whilst two saw both teams score before HT.