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

Barcelona will be looking to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they welcome Osasuna to Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon.

Ronald Koeman 's side suffered a 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid last weekend to drop into 13th position in the table, while Osasuna sit one spot behind the Catalan giants ahead of the contest.

Match preview

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There is no getting away from the fact that Barca's league form this season has been incredibly disappointing, picking up just 11 points from their eight matches to sit 13th in the table.

The Catalan giants are already 12 points behind division leaders Real Sociedad, although they do have two games in hand on La Real, who have a tough fixture against third-placed Villarreal on Sunday.

Koeman's side would have been looking to make it back-to-back league victories last weekend when they travelled to Atletico, but the capital giants ran out 1-0 winners courtesy of a strike from Yannick Carrasco in the latter stages of the first period.

Barca did manage to return to winning ways in the Champions League on Tuesday night, though, with a 4-0 success over Dynamo Kiev allowing them to book their spot in the round of 16 with two games to spare.

Koeman will now be desperate to address his team's disappointing league form, and a strong result on Sunday would lead them nicely into next weekend's clash with Cadiz, who have already beaten Real Madrid this term.

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Osasuna, meanwhile, will bring a three-game winless run into Sunday's contest, picking up just a point from their last three outings against Atletico, Sevilla and Huesca.

Three wins, two draws and four defeats from nine matches has seen Los Rojillos collect 11 points, leaving them 14th in the table, one position behind their opponents this weekend.

Goals have been a problem for Osasuna this season, managing just eight in their nine matches, but they have conceded just nine times, which is up there with the strongest records in the division.

Having finished an impressive 10th last season on their return to this level, Jagoba Arrasate will be determined to secure another campaign of top-flight football.

Inconsistency has been a problem in the opening months of the 2020-21 campaign, but they are only three points off fifth position and will be eyeing a spectacular result on Sunday.

Barcelona La Liga form: DLLDWL

Barcelona form (all competitions): WDWWLW

Osasuna La Liga form: WDWLLD

Team News

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Barca will again be without the services of Ansu Fati and Ronald Araujo through injury this weekend, while Samuel Umtiti remains a doubt due to ongoing knee problems.

Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto are also absent due to the injuries that they picked up against Atletico last weekend, but the former could be back before the end of the season as he does not require surgery.

Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong were both left out against Dynamo in the Champions League on Tuesday but should return to the XI, while Oscar Mingueza is expected to be handed his La Liga debut, having made his first appearance for the Catalan giants in Europe last time out.

Philippe Coutinho is also pushing for a start, meaning that Pedri could drop to the bench, while Sergio Busquets is thought to be winning his battle to overcome a knee problem, but Koeman is unlikely to take any chances when it comes to the experienced midfielder.

As for Osasuna, Chimy Avila, Brandon, David Garcia and Adrian Lopez are all definitely out of the contest, while Jonathan Calleri, Aridane Hernandez, Juan Perez and Lucas Torro are doubts.

As a result, the visitors will be far from at full strength this weekend, but Arrasate has plenty of options for change, with Jon Moncayola, Enric Gallego and Nacho Vidal all pushing for spots in the side.

Ruben Garcia and Ante Budimir should both keep their spots in the final third, but Roberto Torres could drop out for Vidal if the head coach decides to select a 3-5-2 formation.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Pjanic; Coutinho, Messi, Dembele; Griezmann

Osasuna possible starting lineup:

Herrera; Roncaglia, U Garcia, Navas; Vidal, Moncayola, Oier, Perez, Jony; Budimir, R Garcia

We say: Barcelona 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.

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