Valencia vs Osasuna prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-03-10 20:00.
Valencia manager Rubén Baraja blamed poor finishing for his team’s 1-0 defeat away to Barcelona last time out in what looked like a reasonable result against La Liga’s (LL) runaway leaders, although Baraja’s men did boast a one man advantage for the final 30 minutes of the match. The result means the side sat in 19th are two points from safety after just one win across their last ten league outings (D1, L8).
Only three of those games have come under Baraja (W1, L2) and he might be buoyed by the tight nature of their recent encounters, which have seen six of Valencia's last seven LL games settled by a one-goal margin. The fact so many of those results have gone against them though, sheds light on their attacking woes of late. The Bats have scored just two goals across seven LL outings, one of which was an own goal from the opposition.
Only three LL teams have a better defensive record than visitors Osasuna (GA: 23) coming into the round, making them a far from ideal opponent for Valencia to get over their blunt attacking issues. The visitors have also tended to enjoy their trips to the east of Spain and hold a pretty impressive record of just one defeat in their last eight away meetings with teams from the Valencian Community (W4, D3), including winning here last season.
Osasuna finished the last round of action inside the top eight, and are laying the foundations to possibly seal a first finish inside LL’s top seven in over a decade. To make that goal a reality, manager Jagoba Arrasate will be calling on his side to try and convert more of their draws into wins, as no team has drawn more LL games in 2023 (five).
Key battle: Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby will hope to remember this game for the right reasons after scoring, picking up a yellow card and then a red in the last H2H meeting! He’s likely to come up against Osasuna forward Ante Budimir who has registered four goal contributions (G3, A1) across his last three LL appearances against Valencia.
Hot stat: Ahead of the round, only one LL side has conceded more set-piece goals than Valencia and Osasuna (seven).