Real Sociedad received sixth place last season and a ticket to the group stage of the Europa League. In 38 rounds, the “Royal” recorded 16 victories and finished eight matches in peace, which brought 56 points. It is noteworthy that the price of each point scored is equal to the number of goals scored by the team. Out of the 56 goals, 11 are on account of Willian Jose and 10 on the conscience of Oyarsabal. In the summer, Diego Llorente left the team and was sold for 20 million to Leeds. Manchester City midfielder David Silva arrived from England as a free agent. The start of the new championship for the Basques can be called successful. They got two draws at the start with Valladolid (1:1) and Real Madrid (0:0). Last Saturday, the “blue-white” easily beat “Elche” (3:0) on the road. Today Ilyaramendi, Sangalhi, Sola, Guridi and Subeldia will not be able to play. Entering the field of Saldua is in question.
Tampa Bay will still play the remaining matches without Steven Stamkos, who could not fully recover from the damage. However, even without him, “Lightning” are already used to playing. The main character in the attack at the moment is Brayden Point, which gives the opponent a huge number of problems and either scores himself or leads other hockey players to the throw. John Cooper noted the importance of recovery before the sixth meeting after the defeat and noted that all players are “damn tired”. By the way, he called the reason for the failure a couple of lost single combats in the zone. It is possible that Tampa will try to play as before, namely to go on the attack, hoping to save Vasilevsky.