Preview: Alaves vs. Osasuna - prediction, team news, lineups

Alaves, who are 15th in the table, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo on Thursday, while 14th-placed Osasuna suffered a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on the same night.

Match preview

Alaves have won two, drawn one and lost four of their seven league matches this season, with a total of seven points leaving them in 15th position in the table.

Luis Garcia's side started their campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Cadiz before recording a 4-3 victory over Sevilla in their second match of the season on August 21.

Alaves ended August with a 1-0 loss at Getafe before beating Valencia 1-0 at the start of September, but they have only picked up three points from their last three games, losing to Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Bilbao before securing a point in a 1-1 draw with Celta on Thursday.

El Glorioso secured a return to La Liga through last season's Segunda Division playoffs, so their main focus for this term will be to consolidate back at this level of football.

The Basque side have not actually beaten Osasuna in the league since the latter stages of 2016, losing the last three top-flight meetings between the two sides, including a 2-0 defeat in the corresponding match during the 2021-22 campaign.

Osasuna, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Atletico, which made it three losses from their last four games in Spain's top flight.

Jagoba Arrasate's side were excellent in La Liga last season, finishing seventh in the table, picking up 53 points during a strong campaign, but they have found it difficult to get going this term, only collecting seven points from their opening seven matches to sit in 14th position.

Osasuna have not been victorious for over a month, drawing two and losing three of their last five matches in all competitions, including a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge in the Europa Conference League playoffs, which saw them eliminated courtesy of a 4-3 aggregate defeat.

Los Rojillos have struggled to get over the European disappointment, losing to Barcelona, Getafe and Atletico this month, with their only point coming at home to Sevilla.

However, as mentioned, Osasuna have enjoyed their recent meetings with Alaves, winning six of their last seven matches in Spain's top flight, which should hand them confidence ahead of Sunday's contest.

Alaves La Liga form:

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L

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D

Osasuna La Liga form:

L

W

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L

D

L

Osasuna form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

D

L

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Team News

Alaves will again be missing on-loan Atletico forward Giuliano Simeone due to the serious ankle injury that he suffered during the team's preparations for the new campaign.

The home side are otherwise in strong shape, and it would not be a surprise to see the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle of the clash with Celta on Thursday.

Samu scored his first goal of the season last time out and should continue through the middle, with Alex Sola and Jon Guridi also set to feature in the first XI on Sunday.

Luis Rioja dropped down to the bench for the team's last match, but the attacker is set to be introduced back into the team for this contest.

Osasuna, meanwhile, will be without the services of Unai Garcia and Darko Brasanac through injury.

Ezequiel Avila is also missing for the visitors in this match, as the attacker was sent off in the latter stages of the home loss to Atletico last time out.

Kike Barja is likely to be the player to benefit from Avila's absence to join Ante Budimir in the final third of the field, while Raul Garcia could also be introduced to the attack for the visitors, who need a strong result to kickstart their campaign.

Alaves possible starting lineup:

Sivera; Gorosabel, Marin, Sedlar, Lopez; Guridi, Guevara; Sola, Hagi, Rioja; Samu

Osasuna possible starting lineup:

Fernandez; Areso, Catena, D Garcia, Cruz; Ibanez, Torro, Oroz; Barja, Budimir, Raul Garcia

We say: Alaves 1-2 Osasuna

Osasuna are in need of a strong result to act as a potential springboard, and we are backing the visitors to win here. Arrasate's side are a lot better than they have shown this season, and we are expecting them to shade a close contest this weekend to move onto 10 points for the campaign.

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