Espanyol vs Osasuna Prediction - Will Osasuna Be Able To Escape Relegation This Season?

Next Sunday, Osasuna will travel to Catalunya to measure forces with Espanyol at Estadi Cornellà-El Prat for round 37 of Liga BBVA on a match of paramount importance for the Pamplona team if they want to keep dreaming with a place at the Spanish top tier next season.

Last weekend, Osasuna were surprised at El Sadar by a highly motivated Celta de Vigo and conceded their nineteenth defeat this season, thus changing places with Valladolid at the bottom of the table. At the end of the match, the Pamplona’s side manager (Javi Gracia) admitted to be very worried with Osasuna’s delicate situation and he also mentioned that his team gave a very poor image of themselves on the match against Los Celestes.

The match against Espanyol next Sunday will certainly be far from easy, although Espanyol is currently going through a very complicated moment.

For the match at Catalunya, Javi Gracia will not be able to count on Manuel Onwo, Raoul Loé, Nino and Sisi, all of them sidelined due to injury.

As for Espanyol, the Catalan team are aware that if they fail to win any of the two remaining matches they could be relegated and, because of that, there an urgency for returning to victories at Estadi Cornellà-El Prat. Espanyol are currently going through a very complicated moment, both on the financial department and regarding the team’s recent form. Espanyol lost five times on their last six matches and Los Periquitos’ last win was at end of March, when they defeated Málaga at La Rosaleda.

The team seems to be focused on taking the opportunity of grabbing the much wanted win already this weekend against Osasuna, thus achieving sanctuary from relegation as soon as possible.

For the match against the Pamplona side, Espanyol’s manager Javier Aguirre, who mentioned this week that he has several job offers across Europe, will not be able to count on the flamboyant Portuguese winger Pizzi, who was sent off on the team’s last match against Valladolid.

When both sides went head-to-head at El Sadar last January, Osasuna clinched a very important 1-0 thanks to a goal from Álvaro Cejudo on the first half. The Pamplona side certainly wishes that next Sunday’s match has a similar outcome; nevertheless, Espanyol might have a word to say on their last match of the season at Cornellà-El Prat.

Espanyol

Stats: W-11 L-17 D-8

Recent Form - LLDLLL

Osasuna

Stats: W-9 L-19 D-8

Recent Form - DWDDLL

Possible Line-ups

Espanyol (4-4-2) - Casilla - J. López - Colotto - Sidnei - Fuentes - D. López - V. Sanchez - Álex - Simão - J. Córdoba - S. Garcia

Osasuna (4-2-3-1) - A. Fernández - Bertrán - Flaño - Arribas - Damiá - F. Silva - Puñal - Cejudo - De Las Cuevas - R. Torres - O. Riera

Prediction

Espanyol 2 Osasuna 1