Osasuna vs Barcelona
Barcelona have made a fast start to the 2024-25 La Liga campaign, as they’re the only team left with a 100-per cent record, and they’re aiming to keep it that way when they visit El Sadar to take on Osasuna on Saturday.
Following their opening day Champions League defeat to AS Monaco, Barcelona returned on the winning track with victories against Villarreal (5-1) and Getafe (1-0). However, given their spate of injuries, one can’t help but wonder when they’ll eventually regress.
Osasuna recorded 11 points in the first seven matches, good for seventh place. Vicente Moreno, who replaced Jagoba Arrasate at the helm in the offseason, is doing well in his first season in charge.
The pre-game SBOTOP betting odds are overwhelmingly in favour of the visitors, but can the hosts put up a fight?
Talking Points
Budimir climbing up on Osasuna’s history books
Osasuna are on a decent run of La Liga 2024 results with Vicente Moreno at the helm, but it remains to be seen whether it’s sustainable because they have a poor goal difference of -3 (eight goals scored and 11 goals conceded).
Los Rojillo are scoring goals via committee, as none of them have found the back of the net more than once so far. However, that might change this Saturday, as Ante Budimir could potentially return in the starting XI after sitting out in the team’s goalless draw against Valencia.
Budimir opened his account for Osasuna this season by converting a penalty kick (before Aimar Oroz added his for good measure) in their 2-1 win over Las Palmas last week. The 33-year-old Croatian international is on course to achieve a huge milestone with Los Rojillo this season.
With his latest goal, Ante Budimir is joint-second in Osasuna’s all-time scoring list, with 45 La Liga goals alongside Jan Urban. If he finds the back of the net against Barcelona, the second place is all his.
As things stand, Budimir is 13 goals shy of becoming the club’s all-time scoring leader in La Liga. The late Sabino Andonegui currently owns the record with 57 league goals.
Barcelona’s absentee list is piling up
The fact that Barcelona are still undefeated in La Liga speaks volumes to Hansi Flick’s coaching, especially since he was missing several players.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, and Gavi will not play again this weekend.
The injury to ter Stegen in particular is a huge blow for Barcelona since they don’t have a suitable replacement. Inaki Pena will man between the sticks against Osasuna, as they’re still integrating Wojciech Szczesny into the squad.
Moreover, Flick will likely start Pedri over Marc Casado in the middle of the park after the former played the full 90 minutes against Getafe.
Robert Lewandowski has made an excellent start to the campaign with seven league goals in seven matches, so Barcelona are going to rely on him again to shoulder the offencive load.
History
Barcelona are undefeated against Osasuna in their last nine meetings across all competitions (W8, D1). The last time they lost to Osasuna was a 2-1 result in July 2020.
Jose Arnaiz and Roberto Torres scored for Los Rojillo, while Lionel Messi found the back of the net for the Blaugrana. Osasuna were even reduced to 10 men when Enric Gallego was sent off in the 77th minute.
Osasuna have been solid at El Sadar this season, as they notched 10 points from their first four home matches, including three consecutive wins against Mallorca, Celta Vigo, and Las Palmas.
The last time Barcelona won their opening eight league matches was in the 2013-14 season, meaning they’re two victories away from setting a new record, which would be quite an achievement for Hansi Flick.
Betting Tip
As mentioned, the La Liga 2024 odds expect Barcelona to win their eighth consecutive league match this weekend. The Blaugrana are 1.43 favourites, whereas Osasuna are 5.70 underdogs, and a draw is at 4.40 in the 1X2 market.
Recent meetings between these two sides have been low-scoring, and we feel that such a trend will continue this Saturday, making alternatives like Under 3.25 at 1.73, Under 3.00 at 2.04, and Under 2.75 at 2.31, and Total Goal 2-3 at 2.17 viable.
Correct Scores of 1-0 and 2-0 in favour of Barcelona are priced at 8.00 and 8.20, respectively. However, those scores in favour of Osasuna would give you massive payouts of 20.00 and 46.00.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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