Alaves will continue their search for a first league point of the season on Saturday, when they welcome Osasuna to the Mendizorroza Stadium.
Three straight defeats to begin the campaign has seen the hosts fall to the foot of the La Liga table, while their visitors occupy 11th spot, having collected five points from their four outings.
Match preview
© Reuters
After narrowly avoiding the drop thanks to two consecutive victories late last season, Alaves were handed a tough start to the new La Liga campaign, as they hosted title-chasing Real Madrid on the opening day.
A Karim Benzema brace and a Nacho goal established a comfortable 3-0 lead for Los Blancos, and while Joselu pulled a goal back for his side from the penalty spot on the hour mark, Vinicius Junior added a fourth late on for the 34-time La Liga winners to leave with a dominant 4-1 win.
Javier Calleja's side then welcomed newly-promoted Mallorca, and were handed a disappointing 1-0 defeat as Fer Nino hit an 80th-minute winner for the visitors.
In their most recent outing, El Glorioso suffered a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Valencia heading into the recent international break, with Daniel Wass opening the scoring inside the first five minutes before Carlos Soler and Goncalo Guedes got on the scoresheet in a dominant performance.
Upon their return to action, Calleja's men will be desperate to reverse their fortunes, as they look to put their first points on the board and avoid being cut adrift at the bottom end of the table.
© Reuters
They take on an Osasuna side who have enjoyed somewhat of a better start, beginning with a goalless draw against newly-promoted Espanyol.
Jagoba Arrasate's men played out another stalemate in the following game, as they held Celta Vigo, who finished eighth last season, on home turf, before they built on a positive start with an impressive away victory over Cadiz.
Despite Kike Garcia netting a penalty, Osasuna trailed 2-1 heading into injury time, and looked set to fall to a defeat, only for Roberto Torres to equalise in the 91st minute and David Garcia to net a winner in the fifth added minute to snatch all three points.
Having collected a commendable tally of five points from three games before the break, Arrasate's men were unable to continue their unbeaten run last time out against Valencia, despite Jon Moncayola putting them ahead in the eighth minute, as Maxi Gomez, Goncalo Guedes and Omar Alderete got on the scoresheet alongside an Aridane Hernandez own goal in a resounding 4-1 win for the visitors.
Los Rojillos will now look to bounce back to the form they displayed at the beginning of the season after the disappointing manner of the defeat last time out.
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Alaves centre-back Ruben Duarte will return from suspension on Saturday, and he should come straight back into the defensive line.
Pere Pons and Javier Lopez are both doubts, with Calleja unlikely to risk either as they recover from injuries.
Their line will be led by Joselu, who has hit 11 goals in each of the last two La Liga seasons to help them avoid the drop, while John Guidetti and Mamadou Sylla will battle to partner the Spaniard.
Osasuna winger Kike Barja will remain out of action for several more games, but forward Ante Budimir seems very close to a full recovery.
The Croatian may not be risked from the start though, especially with Kike Garcia demonstrating impressive form in the central forward role.
Despite a heavy defeat last time out, Arrasate will be wary of making wholesale changes to a side that started in impressive fashion, with Darko Brasanac, Jon Moncayola and Lucas Torro expected to form the midfield trio once again.
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Navarro, Miazga, Lejeune, Duarte; Pellistri, Pina, Garcia, Rioja; Joselu, Sylla
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, Garcia, Hernandez, Sanchez; Brasanac, Moncayola, Torro; R Garcia, K Garcia, Torres
We say: Alaves 0-2 Osasuna
Alaves have shown frailties at both ends of the pitch so far this season, and we see Osasuna taking advantage of their opposition's poor form to bounce back to winning ways.
Despite the disappointing defeat last time out, Arrasate's men have shown that they will be a tough proposition this season, and we expect them to have too much for their hosts.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Osasuna win with a probability of 42.42%. A win for Alaves had a probability of 29.74% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Osasuna win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.45%) and 0-2 (8.15%). The likeliest Alaves win was 1-0 (10.06%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.03%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with an 8.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Osasuna would win this match.
