Levante vs Real Sociedad preview - Moyes targeting rare away win

Posted Saturday, December 20, 2014 by PA

David Moyes is hoping to bring Real Sociedad's miserable away form to an end with Saturday's trip to struggling Levante.

Sociedad's last win on the road came on April 26 at Real Betis, but after beating Real Oviedo 2-0 on Wednesday to advance to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, Moyes is aiming for all three points against a side that have not won any of their last five matches in all competitions.

"We've gone seven months without winning away from home and that has to change," the former Manchester United manager told a press conference, broadcast on Real Sociedad's official website.

"Levante are a strong team so we need to match them in physical presence and attitude. We can cause them problems with our brand of football. We need to be tougher mentally and compete better than them."

The match with Levante will be Moyes' seventh game in charge of the club since succeeding Jagoba Arrasate, and his record in all competitions reads three draws, two wins and one defeat, with the team 14th in the Primera Division table on 14 points - the same number of points as Levante.

Overall, Moyes said he is pleased with how the team have developed.

"We are progressing, the players are improving and in Valencia we need to make that count," he said.

"I've enjoyed this month, everyone has been great to me and has shown commitment. But I want to compete at the highest level with La Real. It's vital we finish the year higher up the table, and we want to start looking further ahead."

Moyes has a potential six absentees for the trip to the Ciutat de Valencia stadium, with midfielder Esteban Granero ruled out with an ankle injury, Mikel Gonzalez still suffering from a virus and top scorer Carlos Vela a doubt due to a hip problem.

Levante meanwhile have just one absentee in Hector Rodas, but Moyes stressed that his team could not make excuses should they fall short against Lucas Alcaraz's side, saying: "We have to show that we can get results with or without players being out."