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

The home side will enter the match off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Almeria, while Osasuna suffered a 1-0 home loss to Atletico Madrid in their last game in Spain's top flight.

Match preview

Espanyol brought a four-game unbeaten run in La Liga into their clash with Almeria last Friday, but they were unable to pick up a positive result, suffering a 3-1 defeat to Rubi's side.

The result left the Catalan outfit in 15th position in the table on 20 points, just one point clear of the relegation zone, but it is incredibly tight in the bottom half of the division.

Indeed, there are only three points between Cadiz in 18th and Almeria in 11th, which is an indication of how quickly things could change, and it is set to be a fascinating battle to stay in La Liga this season.

Espanyol were relegated to the Segunda Division for the 2020-21 campaign, but they returned to the top level at the first time of asking and finished 14th in Spain's top flight last term.

Diego Martinez's side have the third-worst home record in La Liga this season, picking up just nine points from nine matches, and they will be welcoming an Osasuna outfit who have lost only three times on their travels in the league this season.

Osasuna, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Atletico last weekend, with Saul Niguez scoring the only goal of the match in the 74th minute.

Jagoba Arrasate's side have enjoyed a strong campaign to date, though, picking up 28 points from 19 matches, which has left them in eighth position in the table.

Los Rojillos have only won one of their last six in the league, which was a home success against Mallorca on January 14, and they will take on two struggling sides in the shape of Espanyol and Real Valladolid before hosting the champions Real Madrid in the middle of the month.

Arrasate's side have finished 10th, 11th and 10th in their three seasons since returning to this level, but they are only three points off fifth-placed Villarreal at this stage, so a European finish is certainly a possibility.

Osasuna are also unbeaten against Espanyol in La Liga since February 2017, and they recorded a 1-0 victory when the two teams locked horns in the reverse match earlier this season.

Espanyol La Liga form:

L

D

D

W

W

L

Espanyol form (all competitions):

W

D

W

L

W

L

Osasuna La Liga form:

L

L

D

W

D

L

Osasuna form (all competitions):

D

W

W

D

W

L

Team News

Espanyol will again be missing Keidi Bare and Adria Pedrosa on Saturday through injury, but the home side are otherwise in good shape heading into the contest.

A busy January saw the Catalan outfit add five players to their squad, with Cesar Montes, Jose Gragera, Fernando Pacheco, Denis Suarez and Ronael Pierre-Gabriel all arriving.

There are not expected to be any real surprises when it comes to Espanyol's first XI for this game, with Martin Braithwaite and Joselu again set to operate in the final third of the field.

As for Osasuna, Ruben Pena and Nacho Vidal will miss the contest through injury, but the visitors have not reported any further fitness problems at this stage.

Head coach Arrasate is likely to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the clash with Atletico, so it should again be a 4-3-3 formation with Ezequiel Avila operating through the middle.

Ante Budimir and Darko Brasanac are among the options for change, though, and it would not be a surprise to see the former come into the XI for this match.

A quiet January transfer window saw Osasuna fail to make a single signing, meanwhile, so there will not be any debutants in the away team's starting side here.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Fernandez; Gil, Montes, Cabrera, Olivan; Vidal, Vinicius, Darder, Puado; Braithwaite, Joselu

Osasuna possible starting lineup:

Fernandez; Moreno, Aridane, D Garcia, Sanchez; Brasanac, Torro, Gomez; R Garcia, Avila, Ezzalzouli

We say: Espanyol 1-1 Osasuna

A draw would not be the worst result for either side in this match, and we are finding it difficult to separate them here. Osasuna have only won twice on their travels this term, drawing four times, while Espanyol have already shared the points on three occasions at home, so a low-scoring draw could be on the cards.

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