Villarreal vs Osasuna prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2022-10-16 19:00.
Now that Villarreal have guaranteed their progress through the UEFA Europa Conference League as expected, they can devote more energy and attention to trying to qualify domestically for 2023/24 European action after suffering a fourth consecutive La Liga (LL) outing without a win (D2, L2) away at Sociedad last weekend (L 1-0).
Reports that the Villarreal board were drawing up a contract extension for manager Unai Emery have subsided during their brief but current LL malaise as they continue to stumble more often than not in games that, on paper, should be won. Villarrealâs LL record of W2, D3, L1 as favourites this season is further indication of this concerning underachievement. And after playing vastly different XIs in Spain and in Europe, Emery has the difficult task of quickly working out which combination will be able to replicate last seasonâs recovery in which his team secured nine LL wins in a 13-game period either side of Christmas.
Much has been made of Osasunaâs poor discipline in recent weeks, with four red cards in three matches (D1, L2) seeing them spend a total of roughly 80 minutes with one less man on the pitch. Whilst they had conceded just one goal with a man down in that time, it has certainly disrupted the attacking flow that carved out four wins from their first five LL matches this season.
Manager Jagoba Arrasate described football as âa game of heart and headâ following their home loss to Valencia last round, assessing Osasunaâs last few performances as showing âa lot of heart ⊠but very little headâ. Having already shown earlier this season what a combination of both can do – defeating Sevilla and drawing away to Real Madrid – a third consecutive win away to Villarreal cannot be discounted.
Players to watch: Young midfielder Ălex Baena is loving the surroundings of Estadi Ciutat de ValĂšncia, scoring in Villarrealâs last three games across all competitions at the venue. Meanwhile, Osasunaâs Chimy Ăvila has scored more goals against Villarreal than any other club, courtesy of strikes in both H2Hs last season. He has also never lost to the Yellow Submarine (W3, D2)!
Hot stat: Both teams have kept a perfect record this LL season when scoring the opening goal – W3 for Villarreal and W4 for Osasuna.