Real Sociedad v Man United: Big advantages unlikely to be gained in first leg at Reale Arena | OneFootball

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After their FA Cup exit against Fulham on Sunday, the Europa League will now take on more significance for Manchester United. Caught in no man's land in the Premier League - neither facing an imminent threat of relegation and out of contention at the top - Ruben Amorim's last chance of tangible success will have to come in Europe.

With that being the case, he'd have surely been hoping for a much kinder opponent in the round of 16. Though Real Sociedad aren't having an outstanding season by their own standards, they're still an extremely tough nut to crack, built on a formidable defence.

Imanol Alguacil's side have played a lot of European football in recent years, and are battle-tested in these types of scenarios. Across 42 matches, La Real have only lost back-to-back matches on two occasions under their current boss, with the most recent of those being defeats over two legs against PSG in the Champions League last season (a team they were inevitably big underdogs against).

Although Real Sociedad were hammered 4-0 away to Barcelona and had to play with 10 men for some 80 minutes, their preparation for Thursday's game is actually more favourable than that of their opponents.

While Manchester United had to go to extra time on Sunday against Fulham, La Real spent most of their weekend fixture stood on the edge of their box, in a game of attack versus defence. Indeed, as far as accepting the reality of an early red card and turning the attention to the next game, it was pretty beneficial as far as preserving their condition went. Imanol Alguacil brought on a host of youngsters in the second half and spared some precious legs, knowing any chance of a result was long gone.

Though I expect Real Sociedad to be the ones to progress from this tie overall, their style of play and recent history in Europe suggests the first leg may well be a pretty closed affair. In the six games they've played in the round of 16 or later in European competition under Alguacil, just 11 goals have been scored overall (1.8 per game).

Throw in the fact that Manchester United will merely want to keep themselves in the tie for the second leg and haven't led at half time in any of their last 21 matches, and it doesn't exactly scream goals. Even if La Real are the stronger performers on the night, I predict it'll be a win by a small margin for them.

Oskarsson the threat for Real Sociedad

With their talisman forward Mikel Oyarzabal expected to miss out with an injury, we can expect Orri Oskarsson to lead the line at the Reale Arena here. Not that that should be a huge cause for concern for anyone, though. The Icelandic striker has been in good form in the Europa League this term, where he's most often managed to find minutes ahead of Oyarzabal.

With four goals to his name in the competition this season, Oskarsson is on pace for a goal every 90 minutes on average (four in 361 minutes played). He's converted a healthy 36% of his shots in the current edition too (4/11), none of which have been from the penalty spot.

Along with 1+ shot on target for Oskarsson, it's worth checking out the fouls market for this one too. Real Sociedad are a hyper-aggressive side who like to play a lot of man-to-man across the pitch, especially in midfield areas.

A player to look out for on that front is the home side's right back Jon Aramburu. The Venezuelan has made nine fouls across his last four 90-minute appearances, while Manchester United's system should see him matched up with a wing back and having to cover up further ground in getting out to whoever that may be. He likes to play on the limit and the away side will want to pull him out of position as often as they can.

As well as 2+ fouls for Aramburu, I'll add in one for Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese has been carrying his side of late and did everything he could to help them get through against Fulham at the weekend. If he feels that burden again here, frustration is only likely to grow. Indeed, he averages almost precisely one foul per 90 for the Red Devils this season too.