Osasuna vs Villarreal Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Osasuna have massively overperformed at the start of this season as they sit just outside of the top four and the UEFA Champions League qualifying spots ahead of facing an entertaining Villarreal side at El Sadar this weekend.
Kick-off date/time: Sunday 24th November, 2024: UK – 1:00pm / US ET – 8:00am / US PT – 5:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Osasuna vs Villarreal may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
Osasuna Preview: Overachieving Osasuna
After leading Osasuna to seventh in La Liga and UEFA Europa Conference League qualification as well as the Copa del Rey final during Jago Arrasate’s reign. Jago Arrasate has since departed the club for Real Mallorca with Vicente Moreno replacing him and, after some indifferent and unconvincing performances, Osasuna have been able to overachieve this season.
The Pamplona-based club begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting tucked inside the top five and the UEFA Europa League qualifying spots but they were most recently hammered 4-0 by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu a couple of weeks ago thanks to Jude Bellingham’s first goal of the campaign as well as a hat-trick from Vinicius Junior.
Villarreal Preview: Impressive and entertaining Villarreal
Coached by former Olympique de Marseille and former Valencia boss Marcelino, Villarreal have been much-improved this season and begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting tucked inside the top four and the UEFA Champions League qualifying spots and they have a game-in-hand, too, with an entertaining style of football.
The Yellow Submarine come into this one on the back of a 3-0 demolition of Deportivo Alaves a couple of weeks ago thanks to goals from Ilias Akhomach, Dani Parejo and Santi Comesana. That means Villarreal have now enjoyed three successive victories across all competitions with one loss in seven matches.
Osasuna Team News: Couple of doubts
Osasuna have a couple of key injury doubts for this weekend’s clash with Villarreal in Pamplona as Iker Benito and Kike Barja are both potentially unavailable for this one.
They have been dealing with key injury issues throughout the season but the likes of midfielders Jon Moncayola and Ruben Garcia have returned to full fitness.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Sergio Herrera; Jesus Areso, Alejandro Catena, Boyomo, Abel Bretones; Jon Moncayola, Lucas Torro, Aimar Oroz; Ruben Pena, Budimir, Bryan Zaragoza
Unavailable:
Questionable: Iker Benito (Injured), Kike Barja (Injured)
Villarreal Team News: First-team injuries
The visitors are dealing with several injury concerns for this weekend due to the absences of former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe and Spain U21 winger Alex Baena.
Ilias Akhomach is also sidelined due to an ACL injury with several other absentees such as Juan Foyth, Alfonso Pedraza and Pape Gueye with Ayoze Perez a doubt for this one.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Conde; Kiko Femenia, Raul Albiol, Costa, Sergi Cardona; Yeremy Pino, Santi Comesana, Dani Parejo, Juan Bernat; Barry, Ayoze Perez
Unavailable: Foyth (Injured), Alfonso Pedraza (Injured), Gueye (Injured), Akhomach (Injured), Pepe (Injured), Alex Baena (Injured)
Questionable: Ayoze Perez (Injured)
Osasuna vs Villarreal Prediction
Osasuna have been thrilling to watch and especially so at El Sadar with perhaps the only criticism being an overreliance on playing in front of their hostile home crowd. Their 13 games have consisted of 37 goals so far and that doesn’t seem like letting up with Villarreal viewed as La Liga’s entertainers under Marcelino. As a result, a fun watch for the neutral is to be expected in Pamplona.
Osasuna vs Villarreal Tip: Over 2.5 goals
