Barcelona vs Osasuna matchday preview, line-ups, score predictions, head-to-head record

Henry

Nov 29, 2020

Preview

Barcelona have made a disappointing start to the La Liga campaign, finding themselves 13th in the standings having dropped points in five of their opening eight assignments.

Barca’s latest setback in the title race saw them lose 1-0 at Atletico Madrid and it would be a big surprise were they to slip-up at home to Osasuna, who have failed to score in each of their last three games.

However, Osasuna picked up four points from last season’s two meetings with Barcelona – a 2-2 draw at home was followed by a shock 2-1 triumph at the Nou Camp – and they are often plucky in defeat.

Osasuna have lost only five of their last 17 La Liga matches – three of those defeats were by one goal – and the injuries to Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Sergi Roberto leave Barcelona more vulnerable than usual.

That gives Osasuna a good chance of breaching Barca, who are without a league clean sheet in six and have conceded six goals in their last three home league matches.

Barcelona may prevail but there is little confidence in them delivering at present, so backing Osasuna with a two-goal headstart at the handicap makes plenty of appeal. We predict a narrow 2-1 for the Catalan giants.

Team News

Barcelona will miss 5 players through injury: Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, and Ansu Fati.

Leo Messi and Frenkie de Jong return to the squad after resting against Dynamo Kyiv while Sergio Busquets receives the medical all-clear.

Here's Barca's squad for the match:

Osasuna

Osasuna will be without injured centre-back David Garcia and several strikers, namely Jonathan Calleri, Adrian Lopez and Chimy Avila, once a Barca transfer target.

They welcome back centre-back Aridane Hernandez, though.

Key Stats

Barca have won 33 out of 35 La Liga games.

The Catalans have won 5 out of 9 last league fixtures against Osasuna.

However, the Blaugrana side failed to beat them last season, drawing 2-2 away and losing 2-1 at home.

Probable line-ups

Barca XI: Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Pjanic; Coutinho, Messi, Dembele; Griezmann.

Osasuna XI: Herrera; Roncaglia, U Garcia, Navas; Vidal, Moncayola, Oier, Perez, Jony; Budimir, R Garcia. (h/t Sports Mole)

Manager quotes

💬 Ronald Koeman (Barca): "We have seven games before the end of the year and the time to react in the league is now. We have to reduce the gap between the teams at the top."

💬 Jagoba Arrasate (Osasuna): "At the Camp Nou, Barcelona is a different team and it is still a fearsome team, capable of beating Villarreal, Betis ... I hope for the best Barcelona."

Predictions

Sports Mole's Matt Law: Barca 2-0 Osasuna

"Barca simply have to get their La Liga campaign up and running, and there is a lot of pressure on Koeman ahead of this match. Osasuna are certainly capable of making it an uncomfortable 90 minutes, but we are finding it difficult to back anything other than a comfortable home success here."

90min's Alec Larkin-Riley: Barca 3-0 Osasuna

"Barca comes into it as favourites, of course, but with the side not playing particularly well they'll need to up their game to avoid another disastrous result this weekend."