Barcelona’s La Liga campaign has hit a pause at the moment. They have not won a game in the domestic since November 6 when they stole a last-minute victory against Sevilla, a very difficult place to go and win. The Blaugrana have underperformed greatly after that despite many first players returning, who were out injured.
Barca fans saw some lacklustre football and atrocious defending and were very lucky to come out unscathed against Real Sociedad with a point. Then, after leading for 89 minutes, the Catalans threw away the one-goal lead against arch-rivals Real Madrid, failing to close the gap at the top of the table.
Osasuna, on the other hand, have scored just 13 goals in La Liga this season, the second-worst mark in the division. Barcelona are surely the favourites to get all the three points from this fixture.
Team News
Osasuna- Osasuna will be mostly having all their first team players in the huge fixture against Barcelona. They will still be without Javi Flano and Didier Digard for some time.
Barcelona- After many players were rested in the midweek Champions League game that Barcelona won 4-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach, many first-team players will be taking their place in the XI against Osasuna.
Jeremy Mathieu has been sidelined since the end of November and might not be rushed back into the team this weekend. Neymar picked up a booking in El Clasico against Real Madrid and will be suspended for the game.
Predicted Lineup
Osasuna (4-4-2)- Nauzet; Oier, Miguel Flano, Ivan Marquez, Carlos Clerc; Roberto Torres, Goran Causic, Imanol Garcia, Miguel de las Cuevas; Oriol Riera, Kenan Kodro
Barcelona (4-3-3)- Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba; Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta; Lionel Messi, Arda Turan, Luis Suarez
Key Players
Osasuna- Roberto Torres will definitely be the player to look for in the Osasuna squad. He has bagged 4 goals and one assist in the 14 appearances so far, this season. Another key player will definitely be Sergio Leon. The centre-forward has also scored 4 goals in 11 appearances for Osasuna.
Barcelona- Since Neymar will be suspended, it will be up to Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to get the goals this time. However, Andres Iniesta’s impact against Real was mesmerising and Enrique will be hoping his team secure the win as fast as possible. Arda Turan scored three goals against Monchengladbach as the Brazilian’s replacement in the Champions League and is expected to repeat his feat this time too.
Odds
Osasuna @ 15.00
Draw @ 7.5
Barcelona @ 1.18
