Villarreal vs Osasuna prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2025-05-02 14:15.
[p]Villarreal are enjoying their best La Liga season by way of points in eight years, but they know that they must keep winning if they are to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2021. Last weekend, the Yellow Submarine made perfect use of their game in hand by beating Espanyol 1-0 to ensure that they leapfrogged Real Betis into fifth place.[/p]
[p]That result was a first success in five at home for Villarreal (D3, L1), who in the process kept only their fifth clean sheet of the league season. Head coach Marcelino will now be hoping to see his side register back-to-back wins for the first time in almost three months, as an inconsistent streak of three victories from eight outings (D2, L3) has seen their advantage over sixth place whittled down to one point ahead of the weekend, having enjoyed a nine-point cushion in late February.[/p]
[p]Opponents Osasuna will be out to scupper their top-five hopes, especially as they are hungry to bolster their own European aspirations. The visitors occupy a UEFA Conference League qualification spot thanks to a 1-0 triumph over Sevilla last Thursday, with their rise up the table down to a run of three successive league wins for the first time since October 2021.[/p]
[p]The recent form is all the more remarkable considering that Vicente Moreno’s men had won just once in 18 La Liga encounters prior to their current sequence of victories (D11, L6). Their 14 draws across the entire campaign is the highest such total in the division, and although Los Rojillos’ fighting spirit is underlined by the fact that they have come from behind to take a point from seven of those games, they are yet to win from 1-0 down in the league this term (D7, L6).[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Villarreal veteran Dani Parejo has won eight of his ten career meetings with Osasuna (L2), with his side scoring at least twice in each of those victories. Ante Budimir has been lethal for Osasuna from the spot this season, netting more penalties (eight) in that time than any other player in La Liga.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: A joint-league high 23 of Villarreal’s 33 La Liga outings this campaign have seen both teams score.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]