Barcelona will be bidding to make it four La Liga victories in a row when they welcome Osasuna to Camp Nou on Sunday night.
The Catalan giants are currently third in Spain's top flight, 15 points behind division leaders Real Madrid, while Osasuna are 11th, boasting 35 points from their 27 league matches this season.
Match preview
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Barcelona have had their fair share of problems this season, but there is no question that confidence is high in the camp at the moment, with the Catalan outfit determined to enjoy a successful end to the campaign.
Xavi's side are unbeaten in La Liga since the start of December, while they have won five of their last six in the league, including a 2-1 victory at Elche last weekend, to move into third position in the table, level on points with fourth-placed Atletico Madrid and two ahead of Real Betis in fifth.
Barcelona are not in a title race this season, sitting 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, but the team would move to within four points of second-placed Sevilla if they win their match in hand, and it is not impossible to imagine them claiming second position in the table due to their current form.
The Catalan giants are also chasing success in the Europa League this season but have work to do to advance from their last-16 tie with Galatasaray following a goalless draw in the first leg at Camp Nou on Thursday.
Barcelona are entering a huge period of the season, facing a trip to Turkey next week before back-to-back league matches against Real Madrid and Sevilla, and it will be fascinating to see how things stand at the club in the middle of April, as there is still plenty for them to fight for at this stage.
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Osasuna, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a 1-0 win over Villarreal last weekend, with Ezequiel Avila scoring the only goal of the contest in the 63rd minute.
Jagoba Arrasate's side have won nine, drawn eight and lost 10 of their 27 league matches this season to collect 35 points, which has left them in 11th position in the table, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
Los Rojillos have finished 10th and 11th in Spain's top flight since their return to this level, and it does appear that they will claim a similar spot this term, which would have to be considered a successful campaign.
Arrasate's team have impressed on their travels this season, picking up 20 points from their 13 matches, claiming five more points on the road than in front of their own supporters in 2021-22.
Osasuna have only actually lost two of their last five La Liga matches with Barcelona, sharing the points in a 2-2 draw earlier this season, while they won 2-1 at Camp Nou in July 2020, so the visitors will enter this match full of confidence despite their status as underdogs.
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Team News
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Barcelona will again be without the services of Alejandro Balde, Ansu Fati, Samuel Umtiti and Sergi Roberto for this match through injury, while Nico Gonzalez is suspended due to the yellow card that he picked up in the 2-1 win over Elche last weekend.
Xavi is expected to make changes from the side that started against Galatasaray in the Europa League, with Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang potentially all coming back in.
Ferran Torres could keep his spot in attack, with Aubameyang and Dembele making up the front three, although Gavi, Luuk de Jong, Adama Traore and Memphis Depay are also options in the attacking positions.
As for Osasuna, Jesus Areso remains unavailable for selection due to a wrist problem, while Avila is out of the contest through suspension following his yellow card against Villarreal.
Arrasate could decide to keep faith with 10 of the players that started the win over the Yellow Submarine last time out, with Javi Martinez and Ruben Garcia operating in the wide positions.
There will have to be a change in the final third due to Avila's suspension, though, and the forward's absence is likely to open the door for Ante Budimir to start alongside Kike in a front two.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Alves, Araujo, Pique, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, F de Jong; Dembele, Aubameyang, Torres
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, D Garcia, Cruz, M Sanchez; J Martinez, Torro, Moncayola, R Garcia; Kike, Budimir
We say: Barcelona 2-1 Osasuna
This is a very tricky encounter for Barcelona, with Osasuna more than capable of causing problems at Camp Nou. The away side will also be the fresher of the two teams on Sunday, but we still believe that Barcelona will have enough quality to secure another important three points in La Liga.
Top tip
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 Barcelona win with a probability of 69.84%. A draw had a probability of 19.1% and a win for Osasuna had a probability of 11.07%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (13.21%) and 3-0 (9.45%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.99%), while for a Osasuna win it was 0-1 (4.34%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 4.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Barcelona would win this match.
