Osasuna vs Villarreal prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-05-24 12:00.
[p]Saturday’s final round of La Liga fixtures kicks off at the home of Osasuna, who finish their season with a dead rubber affair against Villarreal. All that is left to play for as far as the hosts are concerned is a top-half finish, although they would like to end on a high given they hadn’t picked up fewer than their current 44-point haul ahead of the final day in any of their four completed campaigns since returning to the top-flight.[/p]
[p]There is certainly a case to be made for a flourishing finish from the hosts as they enter this having followed up a four-game losing streak with three unbeaten games (W1, D2). Their 4-1 victory over AtlĂ©tico Madrid last time out sent shockwaves throughout the division, which is something they haven’t often done this term as evidenced by their meagre 23% win rate when betting outsiders – like they are here – in league action (W6, D4, L16). [/p]
[p]Visiting Villarreal are guaranteed to finish in eighth no matter what happens, which is massively disappointing as it means they have fallen just one place short of a place in European competition. Not only that, their return of 52 points falls well below pre-season expectations and is lower than they have achieved ahead of the final round in nine of their last ten campaigns.[/p]
[p]Despite the negatives, the Yellow Submarine should be confident of improving on that tally here as they enter this having avoided defeat in six of their last seven games (W4, D2), most recently posting a stunning 4-4 draw against champions and Champions League finalists Real Madrid. Combine that with their current three-game winning run of H2Hs, each of which came with multi-goal margins, then it’s easy to see why they come into the contest as favourites. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Osasuna defender Alejandro Catena scored his only La Liga goal this season in the reverse, whilst he also assisted in his last appearance. He’ll be more concerned with stopping the likes of Alexander Sørloth, who scored four goals in Villarreal’s game against Madrid. That was his first four-goal haul in one game since 2015 with Bodø/Glimt, although it was his second hat-trick of this season. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Villarreal boss Marcelino remains unbeaten in all but two of his personal H2Hs against Osasuna (W8, D3, L2). [/p]