Who will prevail in the midfield duel?
An interesting duel is on the agenda in La Liga when Osasuna from Pamplona meet Athletic Bilbao at home. The visitors are slightly better off in the table than the hosts, but the differences are not great.
That also remains the case in the bookmakers’ assessment. Because in the run-up to the match between Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao, the betting odds indicate only a small favourite role for the Basques from Bilbao. The visitors should have a little more quality at their disposal overall.
Osasuna, however, can be a very unpleasant opponent on a good day, who shines above all with compactness. Therefore, almost everything seems to be open before the match. The match kicks off at 9pm on Monday.
Osasuna – Statistics & current form
Osasuna is a team that does not have too many top-class players in their squad. Instead, the club is more concerned with making ideal use of the opportunities and qualities they have. Compactness, a lot of work in the running area and other typical virtues that an outsider often displays are part of the repertoire of the Arrasate eleven.
This often works. Of course, as with many Spanish clubs, there are beginnings in the playful area, but the great finesses there are not to be recognised. Nevertheless, things are going very well, Osasuna is in the midfield of the league and still has a solid lead over the critical zone. However, this task will not be easy, because the odds of the best bookmakers show that the home side are the underdogs before the match Osasuna vs Athletic Bilbao.
Before the short Christmas break, there was a 0:1 at FC Getafe, and before that three draws. In total, this team is now winless in the league for nine games, slipping a little bit successively. In the coming weeks, however, there are beatable opponents in the form of Bilbao, Cadiz, Vigo and Granada.
Osasuna and the problem with the offensive stats
One of the reasons things haven’t been going so well in recent weeks is the offense. Since 17 October and the last win against Villarreal, Osasuna have not scored at all in six games, and only once in two. Against FC Barcelona – of all teams – there were at least two goals once. This cannot be explained by a lack of luck, as Osasuna are at the bottom of La Liga both in terms of bad luck with aluminium and in terms of shots on goal.
This is symbolised by the seven goals in nine home games that the hosts have only managed to score so far. In addition, no player has scored more than three goals. On the positive side, however, the defence is doing a good job with a total of 22 goals. So even a few goals can be enough for a few points.
Of course, the offensive statistics also have an impact on the forecast. Based on the statistics so far, our prediction before the match between Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao is that less than 2.5 goals will be scored.
Predicted line-up of Osasuna:
Herrera – Vidal, David Garcia, Ramalho, Sanchez – Torro, Moncayola, Torres – Ontiveros, Ruben Garcia, Budimir
Last matches played by Osasuna:
LaLiga
01/03 2022 – Osasuna Pamplona 1 – 3 Athletic Bilbao
12/19 2021 – Getafe 1 – 0 Osasuna Pamplona
Copa del Rey
12/16 2021 – Deportivo La Coruna 1 – 2 Osasuna Pamplona
LaLiga
12/12 2021 – Osasuna Pamplona 2 – 2 Barcelona
12/05 2021 – Levante 0 – 0 Osasuna Pamplona
Athletic Bilbao – Statistics & current form
With one game more, Athletic Bilbao have only two points more on their account than Osasuna. The team is therefore just as much in the midfield of La Liga and has just as solid a lead to the bottom. The overall form is a bit better, Bilbao won their penultimate match and almost upset Real Madrid 1:2.
The Basques are even stronger defensively than Osasuna. With 16 goals conceded, Athletic Bilbao have the best record of the teams in the lower half of the table after 19 games. The downside, however, is that offensively they are just as lacking as Osasuna. Athletic Bilbao also have 17 goals and lack a reliable goalscorer.
It is also striking that Athletic Bilbao have the top score in the league with nine draws. This shows once again how difficult the Basques are to defeat.
Athletic Bilbao are looking to make a big move
The game away at Osasuna has a lot of significance. Athletic Bilbao can distance a rival and further establish themselves in the upper midfield. That is the very clear goal and the form curve of the Basques is also slightly better than that of the hosts. That’s why our value tip before the match between Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao is that the visitors will win. With odds in the 2.5 range, however, a bet on this should be carefully considered, because the Marcelino team is also quickly satisfied with a 0:0.
This result has already been achieved three times, seven times Athletic Bilbao have played to nil and seven times this team has not scored a goal. It would be wrong to assume that a very entertaining game will suddenly ensue. Therefore, before the match Osasuna vs Athletic Bilbao our tip is that less than 2.5 goals will be scored.
Predicted line-up of Athletic Bilbao:
Unai Simon – Capa, Inigo Martínez, Yeray, Berchiche – Vesga, Vencedor, Dani Garcia, Muniain, Berenguer, Iñaki
Last matches played by Athletic Bilbao:
LaLiga
01/03 2022 – Osasuna Pamplona 1 – 3 Athletic Bilbao
12/22 2021 – Athletic Bilbao 1 – 2 Real Madrid
12/19 2021 – Athletic Bilbao 3 – 2 Real Betis
12/11 2021 – Athletic Bilbao 0 – 1 Sevilla
12/06 2021 – Getafe 0 – 0 Athletic Bilbao
Osasuna – Athletic Bilbao Direct comparison / H2H record
40 Games Athletic Bilbao have won against Osasuna so far, which puts the Basques well ahead in terms of direct comparison. Osasuna have only 19 victories. 25 times there was no winner, with 137:83 the guest from the Basque country has also scored significantly more goals. However, Osasuna have remained unbeaten in direct comparisons three times in recent years.
Osasuna – Athletic Bilbao Tip
Two teams that choose anything but a spectacular approach face each other in a direct duel. Osasuna has been waiting for a win for a long time now, but has no reason to panic yet. The role of favourite therefore lies slightly with the guests from the Basque country.
Osasuna has one of the weakest attacking lines, Athletic Bilbao is not a spectacle either. Both teams are not so dissimilar in terms of their style of play, which is why our tip before the match between Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao at good odds is that less than 2.5 goals will be scored.
