Monday night's offering this week is a clash between Real Sociedad and Deportivo La Coruna, both of whom are struggling a bit at the moment. In fact, that is an understatement in terms of Deportivo's abysmal start to the 2010-11 season. Miguel Angel Lotina is in desperate need of points to lift the Galicians out of the bottom three and to relieve some of the pressure on himself but standing in his way is a team who have not rolled over easily at Anoeta in San Sebastian.
REAL SOCIEDAD
Player to Watch: Jeffrey Sarpong
Martin Lasarte's experiment with the 4-4-2 utilising both of his regular strikers at the same time did not pay off in Sunday's 2-1 defeat against fellow promoted club Levante. This fact, added to the injury that Raul Tamudo sustained at the weekend which will keep him out for at least two games, means that we are very likely to see a return to the 4-2-3-1 formation against Deportivo La Coruna at Anoeta on Monday, with Joseba Llorente leading the attack as the lone striker. Sociedad are experiencing an early season sticky patch after an encouraging start. They are now LLLWL in their last five matches and that poor run has seen them fall to 15th in the classification, just a point above the relegation zone. Deportivo are one of the few clubs below them and the Basques have generally been much stronger at home so far this term so Lasarte will expect his team to bounce back with a win on matchday eight. Other than Raul Tamudo's injury, Paco Sutil and Diego Ifran are the only other players in the squad who are not participating in full training for physical motives, therefore there will be at least one change to the team. Jeffrey Sarpong, who has scored twice as a substitute this season and always looks dangerous when he comes on deserves a chance in attacking midfield next to Antoine Griezmann and Xabi Prieto. The back four has remained unchanged so far and I don't expect any tinkering there. Sociedad were much better after the entry of Sarpong and Zurutuza last weekend, so the latter may also be pushing for a midfield starting berth at the expense of either Mikel Aranburu or Diego Rivas.
Possible starting XI: (4-2-3-1) Claudio Bravo; Ion Ansotegui, Mikel Gonzalez, Carlos Martinez, Alberto de la Bella; Mikel Aranburu, Diego Rivas; Antoine Griezmann, Xabi Prieto, Jeffrey Sarpong; Joseba Llorente;
DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA
Player to Watch: Riki
Deportivo La Coruna can count themselves lucky they managed to hold on for a 0-0 draw with Osasuna at the Riazor last weekend. Such is the apparent incompetence of this team that they were inferior against the hardly awe-inspiring Pamplonans even when they had a numerical advantage. Referee Perez Lasa did everything he could to give Depor a helping hand in that match, sending off Camunas in the first half, disallowing a perfectly legal Osasuna goal and failing to spot a blatant penalty in their favour, but the Galicians did not keep up their end of the bargain. Miguel Angel Lotina is under real pressure now to turn things around. This week he came out and complained "the squad is healthy but the teamwork atrocious" and he was correct at least in his latter assessment. This weekend Depor visit Real Sociedad at Anoeta and they will be underdogs against the promoted club despite their La Liga longevity. Lotina's side are one point off the bottom of the table in 19th and their form makes for grim reading: DLLLD. In particular, they are finding goals extremely hard to come by. The week started with good news for Lotina as Juan Carlos Valeron and Riki both returned to full training and declared themselves available for Monday's game. Riki's goal threat could be particularly useful at this difficult time so he will come straight into contention for the lone-striking position. His return could see Adrian drop into attacking midifield as there are still doubts about crocked regulars Jose Andres Guardado and Jonathan Urreta in those positions. Michel is injured and Dioni is not 100%, so Lassad is the other main contender. With Juliano Juca still on the fringes of training, Antonio Tomas' thigh problem towards the end of the week was not welcome. David Rochela or Juan Rodriguez are now being prepared as the options to replace him next to Ruben Perez in the holding midfield. At the back, Claudio Morel is out because he is in Paraguay and Alberto Lopo is suspended. Laure and Jose Ze Castro could, therefore, be in line for starts next to Manuel Pablo and Diego Colotto.
Possible starting XI: (4-2-3-1) Daniel Aranzubia; Manuel Pablo, Diego Colotto, Jose Ze Castro, Laure; Diego Rochela, Ruben Perez; Adrian, Juan Rodriguez, Yves Desmerets; Riki;
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