Preview: Osasuna vs. Mallorca – prediction, team news, lineups
Mallorca will be bidding to make it three straight victories when they travel to Estadio El Sadar on Saturday evening to take on Osasuna in La Liga.
The visitors are currently 10th in the table, picking up 22 points from their opening 16 matches of the season, while Osasuna are eighth, two points above their opponents this weekend.
Match preview
Osasuna have finished 10th, 11th and 10th in their last three La Liga campaigns, but they were seventh in 2011-12, and a position in the top seven, or the top six, is certainly not out of the question this term.
Indeed, an impressive campaign to date has seen Los Rojillos pick up 24 points from their 16 matches, which has left them in eighth position in the table, just three points behind fifth-placed Atletico Madrid.
Osasuna secured their spot in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey with a 2-1 victory over Gimnastic Tarragona on January 5 before playing out a goalless draw away to Athletic Bilbao in the league last weekend.
Jagoba Arrasate‘s side have another four matches before the end of the month, facing Real Betis in the Copa del Rey, in addition to league games with Mallorca, Elche and Atletico Madrid.
Incredibly, seven of the last nine La Liga meetings between these two sides have finished level, but Mallorca ran out 2-0 winners in the corresponding match during the 2021-22 campaign.
Mallorca, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Real Valladolid on Saturday, with Abdon Prats netting the winner in the 94th minute of the contest.
Javier Aguirre‘s side also progressed to the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey courtesy of a 2-0 win over Pontevedra on January 4, with the team set to take on Real Sociedad in the next round.
Mallorca have won three of their last four in the league during a strong run, which includes victories over Villarreal and Atletico before the break for the 2022 World Cup.
The Pirates have moved into 10th position in the table due to their strong form, boasting 22 points from their 16 matches, which is only five fewer than fifth-placed Atletico on the same number of games.
Mallorca have impressed on their travels in the league this term, picking up 11 points from eight matches, but they will be taking on an Osasuna side that have been victorious in five of their eight games at home.
Team News
Osasuna will be missing both Nacho Vidal and Ruben Pena this weekend through injury, but Unai Garcia is available after serving a suspension against Athletic.
Head coach Arrasate will have taken plenty of positives from his team’s performance against Athletic last time out, so it is expected to be a similar XI for this match.
There could be a change in a wide area, though, with Ezequiel Avila potentially coming in for Abde Ezzalzouli.
As for Mallorca, Aguirre could have a full squad to choose from, with the visitors not reporting any fresh concerns from their 1-0 success over Real Valladolid.
There could be a couple of changes from the side that started last time out, though, with Lee Kang-in and Pablo Maffeo possibly coming into the starting XI.
There will be another start at centre-forward for Vedat Muriqi, meanwhile, with the 28-year-old enjoying a strong season, scoring eight times in Spain’s top flight this term.
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Moreno, Hernandez, D Garcia, Cruz; Moncayola, Gomez, Torro, Brasanac, Avila; Budimir
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Copete, Raillo, Valjent; Maffeo, Battaglia, Galarreta, Costa; Sanchez, Muriqi, Kang-in
We say: Osasuna 1-1 Mallorca
Seven of the last nine La Liga meetings between these two sides have finished level, and we have had to settle on another draw here. Osasuna are yet to draw a home league game this term, but Mallorca’s away record is relatively strong, and we believe that the points will be shared on Saturday.
