Home strength meets away strength in Andalusia

A new era has begun in Spanish football as the battle for the La Liga title promises to be hugely exciting this season. The dominance of the big teams is over and the league is extremely balanced. So far, one or the other underdog has surprised with strong results. One of these underdogs is a guest in Andalusia on Saturday afternoon. In the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, Sevilla and Osasuna will face each other.

The Lopetegui eleven missed out on an away win in Mallorca in English week, but are still within touching distance of the top of the table. A situation that is also the case for the bullfighters from Pamplona. With 19 points, Osasuna are the big surprise of the 2021/22 season so far, but a point win at the home-strong Andalusians is still not to be expected, as only betting odds around 1.50 on the home treble are offered for Sevilla vs Osasuna.

The visitors from Osasuna showed that they can be expected to do well away from home on Wednesday night, when they fought out a respectable goalless draw at Real Madrid. The extremely defensive style of play should also be the key to success in Sevilla. The match kicks off at 16:15 on Saturday.

Sevilla – Statistics & current form

Sevilla FC fans were already allowed to dream of the championship last season, and only in the final stages of the season was this possibility squandered. Compared to last year, Sevilla are by no means weaker this season, but tend to be even stronger due to clever signings. The Andalusians are certainly a serious title contender in LaLiga in 2021/22.

Still unblemished at home
In the last ten years, only in the 2014/15 season did the Andalusians have an even better record after ten matchdays. The current 21 points, for example, mean five points more than at this point last season. At the same time, Lopetegui’s team underlines its impressive home strength at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

The Red and Whites have won all four of their home games, all of them with at least a two-goal difference. This makes Sevilla’s prediction of a handicap win against Osasuna an obvious one.

Also striking is the difference between home and away performances in terms of goals scored. In four home games there were 17 goals (13:4 goal ratio), in six away games only seven goals (4:3 goal ratio). At home, therefore, an over 2.5 at Sevilla is also a possibility.

No top stars, outstanding collective
The six-time UEFA Cup / Europa League winners have never impressed with outstanding individual players, but rather with a formidable collective. Julen Lopetegui has a very broad squad at his disposal and can rotate through without any loss of quality.

This breadth in the squad is also absolutely necessary, because Sevilla is a team that cultivates a very intensive style. The Andalusians try to put their opponents in stressful situations for 90 minutes with enormous pressing. When Sevilla FC’s opponents are in possession of the ball, there is usually an Andalusian already in the area to create pressure.

Predicted Sevilla line-up:
Bono – Augustinsson, Diego Carlos, Kounde, Navas – Rakitic, Fernando, Jordan – Suso, Mir, Ocampos

Last matches played by Sevilla:

LaLiga
10/27 2021 – Mallorca 1 – 1 Sevilla

10/24 2021 – Sevilla 5 – 3 Levante

Champions League Grp. G
10/20 2021 – Lille 0 – 0 Sevilla

LaLiga
10/17 2021 – Celta Vigo 0 – 1 Sevilla

10/03 2021 – Granada 1 – 0 Sevilla

Osasuna – Statistics & current form

CA Osasuna is in good company, as along with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, the club has never been converted into a public limited company and is accordingly owned by the club members. Compared to this trio, however, Osasuna has had to cope with LaLiga relegation on several occasions. Since 2019/20, the team from Pamplona has been back in the top flight and has managed to stay in the league in both years in an extremely confident manner with success coach Jagoba Arrasate.

Osasuna still without an away defeat

However, the performances so far this season were by no means to be expected in this way. Financially, no big jumps are possible and big stars are also not to be found at the red-blue team. Nevertheless, Osasuna are currently among the top teams in LaLiga and have, for example, eight points more than in the previous season after eleven league games. The away record is absolutely impressive, as the Arrasate team has not yet lost an away game this season. For Sevilla against Osasuna, betting odds of 2.50 are offered for the tip X2.

After winning their first four away games, the team from Pamplona also scored a coup last Wednesday night. At the Santiago Bernabeu, Osasuna held out for 90 minutes and earned a well-deserved goalless draw against Ancelotti’s side. The game will by no means be a foregone conclusion for the Andalusian favourites.

The visitors will not be able to draw on a full complement of players, however, because king transfer Ante Budimir (who arrived from Mallorca after a loan for eight million euros) is not available due to muscular problems. Last year, the veteran scored eleven times and was the most dangerous attacker. Currently, no player at Osasuna has scored more than twice after eleven games.

Predicted line-up of Osasuna:
Herrera – Sanchez, Cruz, D. Garcia, U. Garcia, Vidal – Martinez, Torro, Moncayola – Kike, Avila

Last matches played by Osasuna:

LaLiga
10/27 2021 – Real Madrid 0 – 0 Osasuna Pamplona

10/22 2021 – Osasuna Pamplona 1 – 1 Granada

10/17 2021 – Villarreal FC 1 – 2 Osasuna Pamplona

Club friendlies
10/08 2021 – Osasuna Pamplona 2 – 1 Deportivo Alaves

LaLiga
10/02 2021 – Osasuna Pamplona 1 – 0 Rayo Vallecano

Sevilla – Osasuna Direct comparison / H2H balance

In their first meeting after their LaLiga return, the bullfighters from Osasuna were still able to wrest a draw from Sevilla (Matchday 16 2019/20). In the following three games, the favourites from Andalusia confirmed their role and prevailed on each occasion. Last season, Lopetegui’s team won each match without conceding a goal (2-0 and 1-0). Sevilla have now won 35 of their 76 meetings in the Spanish top flight against CA Osasuna.

Sevilla – Osasuna Tip

The Andalusians’ home record favours a bet on the handicap win, while the visitors’ away record favours a surprise in the form of double chance X2. So it will be interesting to see which series will continue at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The favourites role in favour of the home side is certainly justified, but betting on a regular home win in Sevilla against Osasuna does not seem particularly lucrative.

As in Madrid, the visitors from Pamplona will try to keep the spaces tight with a massive five-man defence. In Madrid, the visitors had only 25 per cent of the ball, but were able to prevent any danger.

A similar course of play is to be expected and this results in possible tips for Sevilla against Osasuna such as both teams not scoring, an under 2.5 or a win to nil for the home side. The greatest chance of success is expected with under 2.5, this tip is played with six units