Espanyol vs Osasuna prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-12-13 13:00.
[p]The misery has returned to Espanyol after they became the second club to suffer ten La Liga losses this season (W4, D1). An unsuccessful trip to Getafe (L 1-0) followed their shock elimination from the Copa del Rey away to fourth-tier UD Barbastro (L 2-0), prompting outspoken head coach Manolo González to declare he’s “fed up” watching his side give things away. [/p]
[p]The surroundings of RCDE Stadium might be a prerequisite to rediscovering happiness, as it is where all four of their La Liga victories have been earned following a 3-1 victory over Celta Vigo in their most recent outing. Their attacking unit will likely need to bail the team out again given Espanyol have conceded in 12 straight La Liga games, as well as all seven at home this term.[/p]
[p]In their first season under Vicente Moreno, Osasuna are enjoying their equal-best campaign since returning to the top flight in terms of points after 16 rounds (24), which is encouraging knowing that they qualified for the Conference League play-off round on the previous occasion with a seventh-place finish (2022/23). Nevertheless, they could be forgiven for wondering what could have been after conceding equalisers beyond the 60th minute in each of their last three La Liga outings (D3).[/p]
[p]Lamenting one of the worst away records of top half La Liga clubs, the European hopefuls should be approaching this game cautiously having been guilty of dropping too many points against bottom-half clubs, with their last two league fixtures (2-2 at home to Alavés and 1-1 away at Sevilla) forming part of an unenviable record (W2, D5, L2) against clubs starting this round 11th or lower (away: W0, D3, L1). [/p]
[p]Key battle: Irvin Cardona could be key to Espanyol’s fortunes as a man who scored or assisted in each of their last three competitive victories. Osasuna defender Abel Bretones has no shortage of experience against Espanyol, facing them four times last season for Real Oviedo, although the home side on the day won all four occasions.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: The pre-match favourite has won a league-low 38% of Osasuna’s matches this La Liga season (W6, D6, L4). [/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]