Europa League, Thursday, 13/03/2025 at 9:00 pm
This game really has it all. Manchester United and Real Sociedad are both ambitious international players. The hosts, who were once so accustomed to success, are actually supposed to be in the Champions League.
But to achieve that, they have to win the Europa League title. The Red Devils are lagging behind in the Premier League. Sociedad are also struggling in the league.
A lot is at stake! In the first duel, I went for a goal from both teams and was successful. This time, I’m going with the Betano odds that Sociedad will score in regulation time.
The hoped-for turnaround has not yet materialized under Ruben Amorim. The previous Sporting coach, who got off to a great start to the season with Lisbon, was poached by the Portuguese club in the middle of the season. But after 28 matchdays, ManU are only in 14th place.
The team has been knocked out of all domestic cup competitions, leaving only the Europa League. If they don’t lift the trophy at the end of it, we will see a European Cup season without the traditional club next year.
At least reaching the quarter-finals is quite likely in the Europa League, at least according to the betting providers, who are offering 1.40 after the 1-1 draw in San Sebastian. The guests are at 2.95.
The bookmakers’ prediction
I don’t quite agree with the distribution, not even in the 1X2 market, where I think the hosts are a bit overrated. After all, Manchester starts the second leg at 1.85, which is a pretty clear favorite’s quote, especially compared to Sociedad’s 4.90.
Or will we see extra time? As an official partner of the competition, Betano offers 3.25 for this bet. The 1.98 for the “double chance X2” is already tempting.
AI prediction Manchester United vs. Real Sociedad: ChatGPT’s tip
Without knowing my assessment, the AI is on the “X2” option, suggests this bet itself, sees “medium risk” in this selection. After all, the Red Devils haven’t exactly been winning games by the dozen lately. There have only been two since February.
However, it sees less risk in “under 2.5 goals”. But I don’t see any value here. After all, the Manchester games stayed under this mark three times in a row. Nevertheless, I don’t expect the harmless game that the goal market suggests.
In particular, I expect the hosts to show offensive courage at home after a good game in San Sebastian, also to decide the outcome themselves. An early exit would be fatal.
And then ChatGPT would still have the final result “1:1” on a plate, which stands at 6.50. That would be something for the 20-euro free bet that you get at Betano even before the first deposit.
Besides the 1-0, this result is considered the most likely outcome after 90 minutes by the bookies, which I can also very well imagine.
Analysis: Manchester United vs. Real Sociedad
In the last few weeks, Sociedad has had a hard time. Three of the last four games were defeats and the goal against ManU was the only one they scored in that period. Granted, the program was not exactly grateful with Real in the Copa del Rey and Barca in the league.
And in the league game against Sevilla, there was rotation. For example, national team player and captain Mikel Oyarzabal was only on the field for the last 30 minutes. Therefore, I wouldn’t read too much into the scorelines.
As for the San Sebastian games, I currently have a good nose. I made a prediction with the right odds for the second leg against Midtjylland a Europa League round earlier and for the 1-0 defeat against the Andalusians.
Since I had already expected changes in the line-up, I went for the Sevilla goal with a maximum of four goals in the match. Against Midtjylland, I went for the Danes’ goal, which ended up being 5-2. Sociedad have done well at home internationally.
This is not yet reflected on the long journeys. In the league phase, we only saw one win and seven goals conceded in four games.
In a decisive second leg, in which a goal is needed to advance without conjuring up a penalty shootout, I expect more!
Odds Analysis
The Sociedad goal is at a whopping 1.65, the goal of both teams even at 2.00, two super lucrative odds. In general, Betano is known for its high goal odds. In addition, numerous odds boost promotions, an enormous selection and a tasty bonus credit to welcome you, in addition to the freebet.
My decision to go for the 1.65 Sociedads is also due to the inconsistency of the men in red. The 1-1 draw against Arsenal was the first in nine games in which we saw the same result after the draw against Sociedad.
Win-draw-win-draw-draw-win-draw-draw is the record of the last few weeks. Incidentally, the last clean sheet we saw was in January in the 2-0 win against Bucharest; in total, there have been just two in the last 23 competitive games and they were both away games.
Manchester United vs. Real Sociedad Odds: Multi-Result Bet Instead of “Under 3.5 Goals”?
In addition, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw are out on the defensive side. Amad Diallo, Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo won’t be playing on Thursday either. I don’t expect a goal fest on Thursday, but I would be careful with the “over 2.5 goals” market.
Since I have a small series of results in mind here, I have a multi-result bet on the radar at Winamax. There you can combine several results as multiple chances via the bet configurator.
In addition to the respective 1-0, 2-0 and 2-1 victory variants, I have also included the 1-1 for a nice 1.50 odds. This is practically an adapted “under 3.5 goals” bet (1.24), in which I have left out the 0-0 and 3-0 outcomes, but the odds are significantly better!
A goalless draw and clear victories are unlikely for me, which is why I would rather go with my own result combination for an under option.
Sociedad have scored in every EL match so far!
Incidentally, Sociedad won the last match at Old Trafford, which was in the 2022/23 Europa League group stage. Back then, the Red Devils were able to get revenge with a 1-0 away win of their own in the second leg.
Two seasons earlier, we saw a direct encounter in the round of 16. After a class difference in the first leg (4-0 ManU), we saw no goals in the rematch. The first international duels we saw on the big stage.
In the Champions League group stage 2013/14, however, the spectacle failed to materialize. A 1-0 win in Manchester was followed by a goalless draw. Admittedly, two Sociedad goals in seven encounters don’t exactly look great for my bet.
Perhaps the statistic that we have not yet seen a match of the Spaniards without a San Sebastian goal in this Europa League season will calm you down, and that was already eleven!
And United have only played twice to zero. In addition to Bucharest, the feat was also achieved against PAOK (2-0). Two teams that are nowhere near the level of the Spanish top club.
I have watched some of the Red Devils’ previous matches and can say that the goals they conceded were not exactly undeserved and did not come out of nowhere. The 20-time English champions have repeatedly had lapses at the back.
My Manchester United Real Sociedad betting tip:
In my opinion, the hosts are a bit overrated before the second leg. In the end, the “double chance X2” is a bit too hot for me, but we get really strong odds for just a single goal from the Spaniards.
Manchester have only kept two clean sheets in their last 23 games. The last time they kept a clean sheet at home was even longer ago than that, when we were allowed to open the first door on the Advent calendar.
Sociedad had some good chances in the first leg, and finally got the better result from the spot, scoring in the 11th of 11 Europa League matches.
In the second leg, in which both teams are not allowed to be eliminated due to the precarious situation regarding European Cup qualification, I expect to see two very committed teams. Let’s see if 90 minutes are enough for a decision.
By the way, you can easily deposit at Betano via Apple Pay.
My Manchester United Real Sociedad prediction: Sociedad scores!
