Barcelona vs Osasuna Predictions & Match Preview

Barcelona vs Osasuna predictions and match preview for Tuesday’s LaLiga fixture. Read on for analysis, team news and predicted lineups as the visitors play their last game before the Cup Final.

Barcelona vs Osasuna Preview

Barclona and Osasuna clash at Camp Nou as matchday 33 kicks off. The Catalans are closing on the league title and they’ll be expecting to pick up three points here against an Osasuna side that is likely to rest players ahead of this weekend’s Copa del Rey Final.

The finish line is in sight for Barcelona now and they took another step towards the title with a convincing 4-0 demolition of Real Betis at the weekend. While they were helped by the visitors being reduced to 10 men in just the 33rd minute, we saw Xavi able to field his best XI, with the possible exception of Ousmane Dembele who came on in the 2nd Half. That hasn’t been possible for several months and has certainly been a big factor in some of their recent problems.

With no games this coming weekend or next midweek, it’s likely Xavi will opt for continuity and a similar eleven here. They need 8 more points to guarantee the title and that should be a formality with 6 games to go. Any slip-ups from Real Madrid would reduce that goal and it’s certainly possible that Barça could end up winning the title at the RCDE Stadium in their next match after this against local rivals Espanyol.

As for the opposition here, Osasuna are a team that often rotates at the best of times. With four games in quick succession leading into a cup final, it was inevitable that Jagoba Arrasate would use this period to chop and change whilst attempting to keep players fresh. He’ll be relatively happy with a return of 6 points from their last 3 league games given that, although a 2-0 home defeat against Real Sociedad last time out wasn’t the best El Sadar send-off before the big showdown in Seville.

They could probably do without this game in truth and it’s likely the players that take to the field will mostly be those that Arrasate is not planning to start in Seville. He won’t want his side to go into that game on the back of a heavy defeat though so we could see some players get 45 minutes to an hour before being subbed off.

Team News & Possible Lineups

Barcelona

Possible XI: Ter Stegen – Balde, Christensen, Araujo, Kounde – De Jong, Busquets, Pedri – Gavi, Lewandowski, Dembele (4-3-3)

Coach: Xavi

Osasuna

Possible XI: Aitor – Sanchez, Herrando, Unai Garcia, Pena – Ibanez, Torro – Benito, Ruben Garcia, Chimy – Kike Garcia (4-2-3-1) 

Coach: Jagoba Arrasate

Score Prediction: Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna

Osasuna’s minds will be very much wandering towards the cup final now and while they have got some good results with much weakened elevens in recent weeks, we probably shouldn’t expect a repeat here. Barcelona haven’t been brilliant of late but the lack of a genuine title rival has perhaps explained that slight drop-off, along with some notable injury problems. With those mostly clearing up now, they should win this game.

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