This Saturday night, Barcelona will be looking to achieve an impressive feat: their eighth consecutive win to start a La Liga season, something they've only done once before. They’ll be facing Osasuna at El Sadar.
Barcelona has been on fire this season, racking up 21 points from their first seven matches, placing them at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Osasuna is having a solid season as well, currently sitting in seventh with 11 points from their own seven games.
Under the guidance of manager Vicente Moreno, Osasuna has had a mixed start, with three wins, two draws, and two losses. They recently picked up four points in their last two outings, winning at home against Las Palmas and drawing 0-0 with Valencia.
Osasuna has been particularly strong at home, earning 10 points from 12 possible and winning their last three matches in front of their fans against Mallorca, Celta Vigo, and Las Palmas. After finishing 11th last season—slightly below expectations after a seventh-place finish and a Copa del Rey final in 2022-23—they’ll be eager to improve.
However, they haven’t beaten Barcelona in La Liga since July 2020, losing their last five encounters, including a 2-1 defeat in the same matchup last season.
On the other hand, Barcelona has been remarkable despite facing injury challenges. Another win on Saturday would equal their best-ever start to a La Liga campaign, matching their eight wins from the 2013-14 season. New coach Hansi Flick is looking to build on this success.
After a tough 2-1 loss to Monaco in their Champions League opener, Barcelona bounced back with a 5-1 thrashing of Villarreal. Robert Lewandowski scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory over Getafe on Wednesday, keeping Barcelona at the top with 21 points, four ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who will face Atletico Madrid this weekend.
There’s still a lot of football ahead, but a win could give Barcelona a seven-point lead over the champions. While they hope to have Frenkie de Jong back before the October international break, they’ve received the unfortunate news that their top goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, will miss the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury.
INJURIES & SUSPENSION
Osasuna will be without long-term absentees Iker Munoz and Kike Barja, but they’re in good shape overall heading into this weekend’s match. No player has scored more than once for them this season, so their goals have been pretty evenly distributed.
However, Ante Budimir could make a return to the starting lineup, and Bryan Zaragoza is likely to be introduced as head coach Vicente Moreno plans to make a few changes from the team that faced Valencia.
On the Barcelona side, they’re still dealing with a lengthy injury list, missing eight players against Getafe, and that won’t change for this match. Ter Stegen, De Jong, Ronald Araujo, Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Andreas Christensen, Gavi, and Marc Bernal are all sidelined. Fortunately, they didn’t pick up any new injuries last time, but we can expect to see Pedri stepping in for Marc Casado in the starting eleven.
Robert Lewandowski has been on fire, scoring seven goals in his first seven league matches. He’ll likely be supported by Lamine Yamal and Raphinha in the attack on Saturday.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Areso, Boyomo, Herrando, Bretones; Moncayola, Torro, M Gomez; Zaragoza, Budimir, Oroz
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Kounde, Cubarsi, I Martinez, Balde; E Garcia, Pedri; Yamal, Torre, Raphinha; Lewandowski
EXPERT PREDICTION
Osasuma 2-3 Barcelona
Given Barcelona's significant injury challenges, it wouldn't be surprising if Osasuna managed to secure a point, especially with their strong home performance this season. However, we’re confident that Barcelona will find a way to earn another three points as they continue their campaign.
