Osasuna will be bidding to make it back-to-back wins at the start of the 2023-24 La Liga campaign when they welcome Athletic Bilbao to Pamplona on Saturday night.
Los Rojillos opened their season with a 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo, while Athletic suffered a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in their first game of the new campaign at San Mames.
Match preview
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Osasuna enjoyed an impressive 2022-23 La Liga campaign, picking up 53 points from their 38 matches to finish seventh in the table, which allowed them to qualify for the Europa Conference League playoff round.
Jagoba Arrasate's side will take on either Club Brugge or KA over two legs, with the first leg set to take place next week, and it would give the club a huge boost both on and off the field if they were able to advance to the group stage of the European competition.
Osasuna will enter this weekend's match off the back of a 2-0 success over Celta in their first game of the new La Liga campaign, with Ruben Garcia making the breakthrough in the 24th minute of the match before Moi Gomez netted in the 74th minute to double the away side's advantage.
Los Rojillos have made four signings this summer, bringing in Raul Garcia, Alejandro Garcia, Jose Manuel Arnaiz and Johan Mojica, while Kike Garcia, Aridane Hernandez, Diego Moreno and Iker Benito have moved on.
Osasuna are expected to add more players to their squad before the end of the transfer window, and it will be fascinating to see what last season's Copa del Rey finalists can achieve in 2023-24.
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Athletic's Basque-only policy in the transfer market makes it difficult for them to improve their squad each season, but they have signed experienced midfielder Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta from Mallorca, while Javier Marton has arrived from Real Sociedad B.
Experienced centre-back Inigo Martinez has left on a free transfer for Barcelona, but they have managed to keep hold of key attackers in the shape of Nico Williams and Inaki Williams.
The Lions finished eighth in La Liga last season, two points behind seventh-placed Osasuna, but they are already three points behind Saturday's opponents in the table this term.
Indeed, Ernesto Valverde's side suffered a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in their season opener, with Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham on the scoresheet for the capital giants at San Mames.
Athletic only took one point off Osasuna last season, and they suffered a 2-0 defeat when the two sides locked horns in the corresponding match during the 2022-23 campaign.
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Team News
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Osasuna will again be without the services of midfielder Darko Brasanac due to a long-term knee injury, but the home side are otherwise in strong shape heading into this match.
Due to the nature of the performance and result against Celta, it would not be a surprise to see Arrasate select the same starting XI for Saturday's game with Athletic.
Ruben Garcia was on the scoresheet last time out and should keep his spot down the right, while Aimar Oroz and Lucas Torro should both feature in midfield.
As for Athletic, Yuri Berchiche, Dani Garcia and Yeray Alvarez missed out against Real Madrid due to injury problems and that is again set to be the case here.
Head coach Valverde is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack, but there should be a couple of changes, with Oihan Sancet and Alex Berenguer potentially coming into the side.
Iker Muniain and Unai Gomez were both substituted at the interval of the clash with Real Madrid, and the pair could now drop down to the bench for the team's second match of the campaign.
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Pena, Catena, D Garcia, Mojica; Moncayola, Torro, Oroz; R Garcia, Budimir, Gomez
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Lekue; Ruiz de Galarreta, Vesga; N Williams, Sancet, Berenguer; I Williams
We say: Osasuna 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
This has all of the makings of a very interesting match, and there is not an awful lot between the two teams in terms of quality. It would certainly not be a shock to see an away victory here or indeed a draw, but we just have a feeling that Osasuna will use home advantage to claim all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
