Malaga v Real Sociedad: Stats point to another helping of goals

A superb 11/5 winner on Sunday night, Callum Read (@callumread) now focuses on the Monday night match in La Liga between Malaga and Real Sociedad.

Malaga v Real Sociedad | Monday 19:45 | Sky Sports 2

Malaga v Real Sociedad has the potential to provide an entertaining end to this week’s Spanish football. At times both sides have played some of the most entertaining football in the division. The issue is, they are both incredibly inconsistent and have both demonstrated defensive issues across the campaign.

Goals

While the winner of the match is uncertain, one thing is for sure. This game has the potential to provide goals. After the surprise departure of Juande Ramos during the Christmas break many believed Marcelo Romero would sure up the defence. However, goals have continued to be seen at both ends of the field. In their last five games they’ve conceded 13 goals and scored nine.

The numbers don’t make for better reading when you look at their home form either. They are averaging 3.5 goals per game at home and also conceded four goals against Cordoba in the Copa del Rey last week. Both teams have scored in 75% of Malaga’s home matches and that’s exactly the route I’m taking for this fixture.

Weak defence

La Real meanwhile will be eager to get back to winning ways after suffering a 4-0 defeat in their last La Liga game to the hands of Sevilla. They’ve shown time and time again how poor they can be at the back, just look at their 5-1 defeat against Deporitvo La Coruna in December for an example of that.

In their away fixtures, Eusebio's side have produced an average of 3.25 goals per game having scored and conceded 13 goals. Willian Jose is their main goal scoring threat, the fifth highest scorer in the league is looking for his 10th goal of the season and will fancy his chances against a vulnerable defence.

Both teams to score has landed in 70.59% of Malaga’s league fixtures this season. This converts into odds of 5/12. With 188Bet offering odds of 4/5, I’m more than happy to follow the statistics on this one.