Osasuna vs Real Sociedad

Estadio El Sadar is the venue as Osasuna and Real Sociedad meet in a competitive-looking La Liga showdown.

Osasuna’s surprising qualification for the Copa del Rey final in May wasn’t random by any stretch of the imagination, as witnessed by the club’s impressive run of three victories in their last four La Liga matches (L1). But the two upcoming La Liga fixtures against Sociedad and Barcelona will offer a clear picture of whether beating Madrid in the cup final would be Osasuna’s only path to European football next season. Jagoba Arrasate’s men come into proceedings in high spirits after turning a four-game winless home league run (D1, L3) into back-to-back triumphs despite failed attempts to keep a clean sheet. However, ‘Los Rojillos’ have encountered no luck in their recent home meetings with Sociedad, losing each of the last four in a row, including three without scoring.

On the other hand, visiting Real Sociedad held fellow top-four hopefuls Betis to a scoreless away draw in midweek La Liga action, maintaining a decent-looking six-point gap in fourth. But Sociedad’s patchy form could be a problem going into the top-four run-in, with their last seven league matches fluctuating between different outcomes (W3, D2, L2). Imanol Alguacil’s men have been particularly sloppy on hostile turf, going winless in their last five away league outings (D2, L3). What’s even more concerning for ‘La Real’ is that they failed to get on the scoresheet four times during that period. Topically, the visitors have yet to score a top-flight goal on the road against sides starting the round in the top eight this season (D2, L2).