Barcelona welcome Osasuna from the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys for a rescheduled Spanish La Liga fixture on Thursday. The Catalans have a chance to go three points clear at the top and given their impressive form, should ease to a comfortable victory.
Barcelona are looking almost unstoppable at the moment and have not been beaten since December, a run stretching to 18 matches across all competitions. Hansi Flick’s men fought back from two goals down to claim a 4-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in their previous fixture.
The Catalans have also impressed in front of their fans winning their last four La Liga home matches, including a 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad last time out. However, the hosts may have some personnel issues with the likes of Ronald Araujo and Raphinha facing short recovery times as they are likely to be on international duty into the early hours of Wednesday.
Osasuna have problems of their own having suffered a dip in form in the last few weeks. They are winless in nine of their last 10 La Liga matches and have lost two of the last three in that run, including a 2-1 home defeat to Getafe in their previous fixture.
It is a similar situation on the road for Osasuna, who are winless in 11 of their last 12 La Liga away matches. Vicente Moreno’s men often lack the cutting edge in attack on their travels and have failed to score in four of their last seven away matches in the league.
How the bookies view it: Barcelona overwhelming favourites
Barcelona have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies and are priced at 1/2 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Osasuna is valued at 13/2 by BoyleSports, who are also offering odds of 9/2 for a draw.
Head to head: Superior Catalans
Barcelona have a 29-7 advantage with 10 draws from 46 previous matches against Osasuna. The Catalans have also won the last 12 home meetings but suffered a 4-2 away defeat in the reverse fixture back in September.
Players to watch: Lethal Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski is the leading scorer in La Liga with 22 goals and will be the one to watch on Thursday. The striker has scored in six of the last seven matches in the league and is priced at 8/11 with BoyleSports to get on the score sheet.
Barcelona have had shutouts in their last three La Liga matches and will be targeting a repeat on Thursday. Inigo Martinez is likely to feature at the back after recovering from injury and can lead the Catalans to another clean sheet at 13/10 with Boylesports.
Probable line-ups
Given the timing of their national team games, Araujo and Raphinha are likely to start on the bench. Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal should recover in time to start on Thursday after featuring for their national teams during the international break.
Osasuna are without Unai Garcia and Bryan Zaragoza, who are sidelined with injury while Lucas Torro is suspended. Ante Budimir is expected to lead the line for the visitors while Enzo Boyomo should start at the back.
Barcelona: Szczesny, Martin, Fort, Martinez, Kounde, de Jong, Torres, Pedro, Olmo, Yamal, Lewandowski
Osasuna: Herrera, Cruz, Catena, Boyomo, Areso, Ibanez, Moncayola, Gomez, Raul Garcia, Ruben Garcia, Budimir
Anything else catch the eye?
Barcelona have claimed a few dominant results lately like the 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad and could be backed in the -1 handicap market at 7/10 with BoyleSports. The home team have scored in both halves in two of their last three home matches and a repeat is priced at 7/10 with BoyleSports.
The hosts have won to nil in their last five matches against Osasuna and a similar outcome is priced at 6/4 with BoyleSports. With the Catalans expected to score in both halves and keep a clean sheet, they could be backed to win both halves at 8/5.
This La Liga match between Barcelona and Osasuna will be played on and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Osasuna prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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