Osasuna vs Barcelona preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

• Over 2.5 goals

• Both teams to score

• Barcelona to win

Barcelona will look to take another big step towards defending their La Liga title when they hit the road to face Osasuna.

Hansi Flick’s side are currently 11 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table, while Osasuna are ninth, two points off sixth-placed Getafe in the race for Europe.

The Catalan giants are top of the table with 85 points in their 33 outings and have won each of their last nine league outings. They look set to secure the league title, and a win here will get them within touching distance.

A win over Osasuna will mean they could wrap up the title against arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Clasico next week.

Osasuna are heading into this fixture on the back of an important 2-1 win over Sevilla. Alessio Lisci’s side have only won one of their last four in the league, but they have also lost just once during that period, and it is shaping up to be a fascinating battle for the top six.

While they will be confident about their chances, going up against the best team in the competition won’t be easy.

Osasuna have only won 21 of their previous 100 matches against Barcelona throughout history, and they suffered a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

Los Rojillos do have a recent home win over Barcelona to their name, though, recording a 4-2 victory in September 2024, and Real Madrid will be hoping for a favour from Lisci’s team here.

Osasuna La Liga form: 🟥🟩🟧🟧🟥🟩

Barcelona La Liga form: 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Barcelona form (all competitions): 🟩🟥🟩🟩🟩🟩

Osasuna will be missing Iker Benito (knee) and Victor Munoz (muscle) for Saturday’s match, while Aimar Oroz (muscle) needs to be assessed ahead of the match.

Ante Budimir has been in excellent form for Osasuna this season, scoring 16 times in 32 La Liga appearances, and the forward will once again feature in the final third of the field.

There is a hope that Oroz will ultimately be passed fit, allowing him to operate as the number 10, with Ruben Garcia expected to be given the nod down the left for the hosts.

As for Barcelona, Lamine Yamal is out for the season with a hamstring injury, while Jules Kounde is suspended due to the milestone yellow card that he picked up in the 2-0 success over Getafe, which made it nine league wins in a row for Flick’s team.

Raphinha and Marc Bernal are both back in training after recovering from injury problems, and the pair are likely to be in the squad this weekend.

Andreas Christensen has also made excellent progress in his recovery from a serious knee injury, but this game will come too soon for the Denmark international.

Osasuna: Herrera; Rosier, Catena, Boyomo, Galan; I Munoz, Moncayola; Moro, Oroz, Ruben Garcia; Budimir

Barcelona: J Garcia; E Garcia, Cubarsi, Martin, Cancelo; Gavi, Pedri; Bardghji, Olmo, Fermin; Torres

Barcelona head to Pamplona to face an Osasuna side that are stubborn and actually ended the Catalans’ unbeaten start to last season.

Osasuna have plenty of weapons to hurt the often leaky and risky high-line of the champions-elect.

However, Barcelona have scored in every league game this season (53 straight overall), thumped Osasuna 2-0 away earlier, and despite that shock 4-2 loss here in September ’24, they have owned the last ten visits bar that blip.

Correct score prediction: Osasuna 1-2 Barcelona