Two sides hoping to get back to winning ways in the Spanish top flight will do battle on Sunday, as Espanyol entertain Osasuna.

A defeat and a draw from their last two games has seen the visitors drop behind the top eight in the La Liga table, while their hosts have now lost three consecutive games and fallen to 14th spot.

Match preview

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Following their promotion from Spain's second tier last season, Espanyol have enjoyed a commendable campaign for the most part in La Liga, consistently finding themselves in and around the top half until the end of last year.

The form of Vicente Moreno's side has since taken a notable dip, though, as they have now taken just 13 points from 15 league games since the turn of the year, with their most recent victory coming against Celta Vigo in mid-April.

Following that triumph, the Periquitos have now suffered three consecutive defeats heading into the weekend, as they firstly fell short against Atletico Madrid before being narrowly beaten at home to Rayo Vallecano.

Moreno's men most recently faced the tough test of taking on Real Madrid, who needed a win to seal the league title, and they were comfortably beaten as Rodrygo hit a brace alongside goals from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema in a rampant home display from Los Blancos.

As a result, Espanyol have quickly dropped to 14th spot in the Spanish top flight, and, while they boast an eight-point lead over the relegation zone with just 12 points left to fight for, they will still be keen to stop their rot to ensure they do not fall any further in the final straight of the campaign.

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They meet an Osasuna side also vying to return to winning ways, having recently dropped well behind in the race for a top-eight finish.

Jagoba Arrasate's team have enjoyed an impressive league campaign on the whole, and back-to-back wins over Valencia and Alaves in April put them level on points with eighth-placed Athletic Bilbao with six games to go.

They then had to host Real Madrid and eventually fell to a 3-1 defeat, despite Ante Budimir drawing them level early in the game, as Asensio restored the runaway leaders' advantage and Lucas Vazquez sealed the points with a 96th-minute goal.

Looking to bounce back from that harmful loss, Los Rojillos travelled to Elche last time out, and Budimir's goal looked to have made the only difference until Pere Milla levelled the game in the 84th minute and forced Osasuna to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Following those results, Arrasate's men have dropped five points behind Athletic Club with four games to go, meaning they will require a particularly strong end to the season if they are to stand a chance of overcoming the odds and cracking the top eight.

Team News

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Espanyol will likely remain without Keidi Bare and Oscar Gil due to injuries after they missed out on the Real Madrid meeting.

Star man Raul de Tomas will continue to lead the line, having hit 15 goals in La Liga this season.

Sergi Darder is another important feature of their attack, and he should again play just off the front line.

Osasuna have a star man of their own in attack, with Ante Budimir having found the net in each of the last six games to take his tally to eight league goals for the campaign.

He will again be partnered by Ezequiel Avila, while the strong and established midfield unit of Darko Brasanac, Lucas Torro and Jon Moncayola is rarely altered.

Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Vidal, Calero, Gomez, Cabrera; Herrera, Morlanes; Vilhena, Darder, Puado; De Tomas

Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, Hernandez, Garcia, Cruz, Sanchez; Brasanac, Torro, Moncayola; Avila, Budimir

We say: Espanyol 1-2 Osasuna

As both sides aim to put disappointing runs behind them, something is bound to give, and we just lean towards an away win, with Budimir's hot streak giving Los Rojillos a slight advantage.

Written by
Sam Varley

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