Leeds United headed into the World Cup break in the midst of a fight at the bottom end of the Premier League table, having only narrowly avoided relegation last season, with the Yorkshire outfit just two points above the drop zone.
They sat in a particularly concerning position after a defeat to Fulham in October, with just nine points on the board from 11 outings, but they would then return to winning ways against the
odds away at Liverpool in the following encounter, as Crysencio Summerville hit an 89th-minute winner at Anfield after Rodrigo Moreno’s early opener was cancelled out by Mohamed Salah.
The Peacocks then made it back-to-back league triumphs in a dramatic contest at home to AFC Bournemouth, eventually winning 4-3 with Summerville again hitting the decisive goal late on after Moreno, Sam Greenwood and Liam Cooper all got on the scoresheet.
Aiming to make it three wins on the bounce and climb further away from the drop zone prior to the break, Leeds’ last league outing came away at Tottenham Hotspur, and despite leading on three separate occasions through a Summerville goal and a Moreno brace, they finished on the wrong end of a 4-3 beating in London.
Nevertheless, Marsch’s men should still be in high spirits having improved in the English top flight and climbed to 15th spot, and they come into Friday’s game on the back of a 2-1 win over Elche last
Thursday, with Joe Gelhardt and Mateusz Klich getting on the scoresheet, and are now tasked with building further momentum ahead of their return to league action.
They play host to a Real Sociedad side who are in competitive action much sooner after their layoff, with a Copa del Rey tie looming next week after Friday’s contest and a draw with Rayo Vallecano in a friendly last Saturday.
Despite struggling for form somewhat in their final few outings prior to the World Cup break, Imanol Alguacil’s side did enjoy a strong start to the Spanish league campaign, as they sat third in La Liga with 22 points from their opening 10 games before suffering disappointing back-to-back defeats at the hands of Real Valladolid and Real Betis.
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Nonetheless, thanks to an impressive 2-1 win away at Sevilla in their last top-flight outing in November, La Real do remain third and only trail Barcelona and Real Madrid at
the top of the division, while they also pipped Manchester United to top spot in their Europa League group to skip the playoff round and book a guaranteed place in the round of 16.
Looking to get back up to speed, Alguacil’s side would then take on Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in a friendly, and Alexander Sorloth netted an early goal before Randy Nteka forced a draw with an equaliser.
Now with their sights set on a Copa del Rey second-round contest away at fifth-tier Coria next week and a return to league action prior to the turn of the year, La Real will look to score an impressive victory in Yorkshire on Friday.
