Osasuna is hosting Celta Vigo at Estadio El Sadar in round 2 of the Spanish LaLiga. Osasuna has won 5 of their 6 preseason games, but they are now on a 2-game streak without a win. Celta has had a tough matchup at the start of the season last week, and they lost that game.
Osasuna was fantastic in the friendly games they played, especially on the defensive end, and they kept that defense going in their season opener against Espanyol. Osasuna was the better team with 53% of ball possession, 1 shot on goal, 4 corner kicks, 0 big chances created, and 75% of the correct passes. Even though Osasuna was the better team in this match, it turned out to be a rough game, and it ended in a 0-0 draw. Osasuna was in danger of being relegated last season, but they have made a push in the last few weeks of the season, and they ended up in 11th place. Offensively, they weren’t great, but their defense was solid, and that is what kept them in LaLiga.
Celta was really close to the Europa League last season, but their depth problems have cost them that spot. Celta ended last season in 8th place with 53 points. In the offseason, Celta hasn’t lost any games, but they did lose their season opener. Celta was hosting Atletico Madrid last week, and they have had 53% of ball possession, 2 shots on goal, 2 corner kicks, 2 big chances created, and 84% of the correct passes. This was a rough, rough game, and Celta was losing at halftime, but they tied the score in the 59th minute. Just 5 minutes later, Celta has conceded another goal, and they ended up losing this match 1-2. Celta also conceded a red card in the 95th minute. Aspas has scored a goal for Celta, while Hugo Mallo will miss this game because of the red card. I think Celta is a great team, they can play great defense, and they can score goals when they have to. I think Celta can repeat the last season, and even do better than that.
When playing at home, Osasuna has not lost to Celta in their last 3 games, but Celta is now on a 3-game winning streak on the road. I don’t expect this to be a nice game, I think there will be a lot of fouls, and I think we will see at least 1 penalty in this match.