Fifth will welcome fourth in an intriguing La Liga contest on Sunday afternoon, with Villarreal making the trip to El Sadar Stadium to tackle Osasuna.
Osasuna suffered a 4-0 defeat to Real Madrid in their last match before the international break, while Villarreal posted a 3-0 victory over Alaves to make it three straight wins in all competitions.
Match preview
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Osasuna have won six, drawn three and lost four of their 13 La Liga meetings this season to collect 21 points, which is enough for fifth spot in the table, only three points behind fourth-placed Villarreal.
Los Rojillos recorded three straight wins over Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Chiclana ahead of their trip to Real Madrid before the international break, but they suffered a 4-0 defeat to a wounded Los Blancos outfit.
Vicente Moreno's side will be bidding to get back on track this weekend, and they have been excellent at home this season, boasting the second-best record, having collected 16 points from their seven matches in front of their own supporters.
Osasuna finished 11th in Spain's top flight last season, but they were seventh in 2022-23 and certainly look capable of claiming a similar spot this term, as there have been plenty of encouraging signs in the opening months of the season.
The Pamplona outfit are winless in their last four La Liga matches against Villarreal, suffering three defeats in the process, but the corresponding match during the 2023-24 campaign ended in a 1-1 draw.
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Villarreal, meanwhile, will enter this game off the back of three successive wins over Real Valladolid, Poblense and Alaves, while they are unbeaten in all competitions since a 2-0 reverse to Real Madrid at the start of October.
Marcelino's side have a record of seven wins, three draws and two defeats from their 12 La Liga matches this season, which has seen them collect 24 points, and they are only three points behind second-placed Real Madrid on the same number of games.
Atletico Madrid in third are only two points ahead of them and have played a game more, so it has been a strong start to the campaign for the Yellow Submarine, who have found the back of the net 23 times in their 12 matches.
Marcelino's team are the third-highest goalscorers in La Liga this term behind Barcelona (40) and Real Madrid (25), but they have conceded 19 times and will surely have to tighten up defensively in order to claim a top-four spot.
Villarreal finished down in eighth in Spain's top flight last season, so they are not playing European football in 2024-25, which could aid them in their attempts to return to Europe next term.
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Team News
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Osasuna have two injury doubts ahead of their clash against Villarreal, with Iker Benito and Kike Barja struggling, but Juan Cruz should be back in the squad after missing out against Real Madrid.
Head coach Moreno will not panic following the heavy defeat to Real Madrid last time out, so it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field for the clash with Villarreal.
Ante Budimir has scored six La Liga goals this season and will again operate through the middle, while there should be spots in the final third of the field for both Bryan Zaragoza and Ruben Pena.
Villarreal, meanwhile, have been hit with the news that Ayoze Perez is facing more time out with the muscular problem that he suffered during the November international break with Spain.
Perez has scored seven times in nine La Liga matches this season, and his absence will be a huge blow, while Pape Gueye, Alex Baena, Ilias Akhomach, Nicolas Pepe, Juan Foyth and Alfonso Pedraza are also out.
There will have to be a number of changes to the side that started against Alaves due to the list of absentees, meaning that there should be starts for the likes of Yeremy Pino, Juan Bernat, Thierno Barry and Santi Comesana.
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Areso, Catena, Boyomo, Bretones; Moncayola, Torro, Oroz; Pena, Budimir, Zaragoza
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Conde; Femenia, Albiol, Costa, S Cardona; Pino, Comesana, Parejo, Suarez, Bernat; Barry
We say: Osasuna 1-1 Villarreal
Even with a full squad, it would be bold to back a Villarreal win here considering Osasuna's home record this season; it would not be a surprise to see the hosts edge this one, but we are expecting the Yellow Submarine to be good enough for a point on Sunday afternoon.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.