Osasuna vs Valencia prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-04-14 19:00.
[p]Osasuna‘s ambitions of returning to the UEFA Europa Conference League next season were reignited by Athletic Club’s Copa del Rey title win as well as their own 3-0 victory at AlmerĂa. Starting the round with a five-point deficit to seventh place Valencia underlines the difficulty of the task ahead of them, but with three of their four league losses in 2024 coming against the top-three clubs, their recent form has been reasonable.[/p]
[p]Five wins from their last seven La Liga home games, including against fellow European hopefuls Getafe in January (3-2), should give them plenty of confidence to reduce the gap to Valencia to two points, despite not yet winning at home to any club that finished the last round ranked higher (D1, L5). A win rate of 73% for pre-match favourites (W11, D3, L1) across their home campaign does at least play into the hosts’ favour here.[/p]
[p]Valencia are entering a crucial six-day period in which they play the two clubs directly beneath them in the standings. They could therefore open up a significant margin on the chasing pack with back-to-back wins, and with four straight league victories earlier in 2024 that included victims such as Villarreal (3-1) and Athletic (1-0), it’s not out of the question if they can get back to their best.[/p]
[p]Manager Rubén Baraja assessed their first half in last weekend’s 1-0 win at Granada as arguably their “worst of the season”, but it nonetheless ended three consecutive away losses in this competition. They’ll need to take a significant step up to take three points home from Pamplona though, with 14th-placed Sevilla the highest ranked club at the start of the round that they have defeated away in league action (D1, L8 v top 13 opposition).[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ante Budimir continues to delight his supporters by scoring in five of Osasuna’s last seven league games, including all three at home. He has now equalled his record for his highest scoring league campaign with 16 goals (2015/16 Serie B). Hugo Duro scored his first goal from six H2Hs in the reverse fixture and has won six of his ten goal scoring appearances (D2, L2) since then.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: The six personal meetings between head coaches Arrasate and Baraja produced just seven total goals and an even record of two wins apiece and two draws.[/p]