Osasuna
Barcelona
06 March 2021
20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
La Liga
Estadio El Sadar
Buoyed by a 2-0 win at Sevilla, Barcelona will be aiming to stay in the title race when they take on Osasuna in Pamplona on Saturday.
The Catalan giants have been showing signs of improvement of late, and it is no wonder the bookies see them as hot favourites to win the Estadio El Sadar clash.
Leo Messi has been in a fine form in recent weeks, and we are positive that he will make life difficult for the opposition defenders.
Talented midfielder Pedri, on the other hand, suffered an injury in the triumph over Sevilla, and, as a result, he will miss the Osasuna clash.
Los Rojillos did well to beat Alaves on the road in the Basque derby at the weekend, but Barca will pose a much bigger threat for them than their previous rivals.
Since Barcelona do not suit Osasuna, we are tempted to put our money on the title-chasing visitors.
Osasuna vs Barcelona: Head-to-head (h2h)
Teams Osasuna Barcelona played so far 37 matches.
Osasuna won 6 direct matches. Barcelona won 22 matches. 9 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 3.05 goals per Match.
Osasuna vs Barcelona Prediction
Osasuna in actual season average scored 1.15 goals per match. In 11 (78.57%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 5 (35.71%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Barcelona average scored 2.21 goals per match in season 2021. In 15 (78.95%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 9 (47.37%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Osasuna will again be without the services of Facundo Roncaglia and Chimy Avila for this weekend's contest, while Darko Brasanac, Ruben Martinez and Inigo Perez remain doubts.
Head coach Arrasate could look to bring in an extra midfielder following last weekend's win over Alaves, with Jon Moncayola potentially coming into the side for Ante Budimir.
Enric Gallego and Kike Barja are options for the final third of the field, but Jonathan Calleri should lead the line with support from Roberto Torres and Ruben Garcia.
As for Barca, Philippe Coutinho, Ansu Fati and Sergi Roberto will all definitely be absent once again, while Miralem Pjanic and Ronald Araujo remain doubts for the contest.
Gerard Pique has also been ruled out with a knee injury, meaning that Oscar Mingueza could start alongside Clement Lenglet in the middle of the away side's defence.
Koeman is expected to make changes from Wednesday's Copa del Rey clash, with Antoine Griezmann and Trincao potentially featuring in the final third of the field.
Jordi Alba and Sergino Dest were wing-backs against Sevilla but could revert to the full-back positions for this game, while Pedri should also start despite only just being cleared from injury for Wednesday's match.
The squad for #OsasunaBarça! pic.twitter.com/H0L24Jt72y
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 5, 2021
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, Aridane, D Garcia, Cruz; Torro, Oier, Moncayola; Torres, Calleri, R Garcia
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, De Jong; Trincao, Messi, Griezmann