Osasuna vs Villarreal match preview and predictions for Saturday’s LaLiga match. Read on for the head-to-head, team news and predicted lineups as the Yellow Submarine head to El Sadar.
- DATE: Saturday 19th December 2020
- KICK-OFF: 18:30 (local time)
- VENUE: El Sadar
- COMPETITION: LaLiga
Osasuna vs Villarreal Preview
Villarreal travel to El Sadar on Saturday with the Yellow Submarine looking to maintain their strong start to the campaign. They face an Osasuna side that is starting to look like it may be in serious relegation danger with results and performances having not been great over recent weeks.
Indeed Osasuna are LaLiga’s bottom club heading into this game after Huesca claimed their first win of the season last weekend. Given they are only 3 points off Valencia in 12th, that’s not exactly a reason to panic but recent results have not been good and there isn’t much sign that they may imminently turn things around.
It’s just one point from six matches now for the Pamplona side and that did come at home to fellow strugglers Huesca. Having lost dangerman Chimy Avila to another long-term injury on the eve of the season, scoring goals was always going to be a bit of an issue for them this term but most worryingly for Jagoba Arrasate they’ve not even looked good defensively in recent weeks, with 9 conceded in their last 3 league fixtures.
Villarreal certainly have the tools to make them pay if there are more defensive errors here. In Paco Alcacer’s absence, top scorer Gerard Moreno is likely to play through the middle and will be the focal point of the visiting team’s threat.
Other injuries may see Take Kubo make what would be just his 3rd league start of the season. There has been some talk that the Real Madrid loanee may be recalled in January and moved to another club for more game time but the festive period could give the Japanese youngster the chance to cement himself in Unai Emery’s first choice XI.
Villarreal have lost just once in 20 competitive games this season which is an outstanding record as they begin a new era under Unai Emery. However it is four straight league draws for the Yellow Submarine in LaLiga and they will need to start converting one point into three more often if they are going to be serious top four contenders.
Read all our weekend LaLiga previews here!
Head to Head
- Last 6 Competitive Meetings: 1 Osasuna Win, 5 Villarreal Wins.
- Both meetings last season resulted in home wins.
- Villarreal had won their previous 4 matches against Osasuna, scoring 3+ goals each time.
- All of the last 4 meetings at El Sadar have produced 3 or more goals.
Team News
Ante Budimir is fit again and should lead the line for Osasuna. Adrian Lopez is also available but may be used off the bench.
Vicente Iborra is expected to miss the rest of the season following a serious ligament injury. With Francis Coquelin also out, they are short on central midfield options while Paco Alcácer, Moi Gomez and Pervis Estupinan are also expected to miss this game through injury.
Predicted Osasuna Starting Lineup:
Herrera – Perez, Hernandez, Garcia, Vidal – Garcia, Moncayola, Oier, Torres – Calleri, Budimir (4-4-2)
Predicted Villarreal Starting Lineup:
Asenjo – Costa, Torres, Albiol, Gaspar – Trigueros, Foyth, Parejo – Kubo, Gerard, Chukwueze (4-3-3)
Osasuna vs Villarreal Predictions
Score Prediction: Osasuna 2-2 Villarreal
Villarreal have been struggling for victories on their travels and they may have to settle for a point here with a number of players out injured. Osasuna’s confidence levels will be low right now given recent results but they have had some tough fixtures and they look capable of scraping a result here.
LaLiga Betting Tips (18+)
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