Preview: Osasuna vs Espanyol - prediction, team news, lineups

Espanyol will be aiming to record their second La Liga victory of the campaign when they head to Estadio El Sadar on Saturday afternoon to tackle Osasuna.

The visitors are currently 12th in the La Liga table on four points, while Osasuna are eighth, having picked up seven points from their opening four games of the campaign.

Match preview

Osasuna boast a record of two wins, one draw and one defeat from their opening four league matches of the season, with seven points leaving them in eighth spot in the table.

Los Rojillos opened their season with a goalless draw against Levante before managing to record back-to-back wins over Celta Vigo and Getafe to make it seven points from three matches during an incredibly encouraging start to the campaign.

However, Luis Miguel Ramis' side will enter this match off the back of a disappointing result, having gone down 5-2 to high-flying Alaves on September 6.

Osasuna finished 17th in La Liga last season, only narrowly avoiding relegation, so there is plenty of room for improvement during the current campaign.

Los Rojillos have only managed to win one of their last five matches against Espanyol, losing the last two, including a 2-1 reverse in May of this year.

Osasuna actually lead the overall head-to-head record between the two sides, having posted 33 wins to Espanyol's 27, while 20 of their 80 matches have finished all square.

Espanyol started their 2026-27 campaign with a 3-0 victory over Levante, but they have only picked up one point from their last three games, losing to Real Madrid and Real Sociedad before drawing 1-1 with Sevilla last time out.

Manolo Gonzalez's side are 12th in the table on four points, but they are only three points behind sixth-placed Atletico Madrid.

The White and Blues were 11th in La Liga last season, but their form in the first half of the campaign was exceptional, having the look of a potential Champions League outfit before sliding down the division in the second half of the season.

Osasuna La Liga form:

Espanyol La Liga form:

Team News

Osasuna will be without the services of Jorge Herrando and Aimar Oroz through injury, while Valentin Rosier remains a doubt due to a hamstring issue.

Head coach Ramis is expected to make changes to the side that started against Alaves, with Raul Moro and Jonathan Dubasin potentially coming into the XI.

Ante Budimir has scored four times in four appearances for Osasuna this season, and the Croatian will continue in the final third of the field.

As for Espanyol, Javier Puado and Kike Garcia remain on the sidelines through injury, but the visitors are otherwise in strong shape for this weekend's clash.

There could be a change in the final third of the field, with Marcos Fernandez potentially coming into the side in place of Alex Calatrava.

Roberto Fernandez will continue through the middle, with the 24-year-old bidding to add to the three league goals that he has scored this season.

Osasuna possible starting lineup:

Herrera; Arguibide, Catena, Boyomo, Bretones; Moncayola, Munoz; Dubasin, Moro; Budimir, Raul Garcia

Espanyol possible starting lineup:

Dmitrovic; El Hilali, Nunez, Cabrera, Hinojo; Moscardo, Exposito; M Fernandez, Hernandez, Dolan; R Fernandez

We say: Osasuna 1-1 Espanyol

Both sides will fancy their chances of causing the other problems on Saturday, and we are expecting a tight match to ultimately finish in a low-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.