Spain’s La Liga returns on Friday following the international break, with Real Mallorca and Osasuna restarting the action in Palma.
The teams are separated by just two points in the La Liga table, with ninth-placed Osasuna leading eleventh-placed Mallorca.
Both sides head into Friday’s showdown on winless runs in the league, placing extra importance on this mid-table battle.
🔋 ¡Paso a paso! pic.twitter.com/U9kAWcdKLj— Real Mallorca (@RCD_Mallorca) March 27, 2023
🔋 ¡Paso a paso! pic.twitter.com/U9kAWcdKLj
Mallorca have failed to win any of their last four matches, recording one draw and three losses since defeating Villarreal 4-2 in February.
When you look at the bigger picture, the Pirates have lost seven of their previous 12 La Liga clashes, picking up four wins and one draw in the process.
That said, Mallorca have enjoyed plenty of success on home soil in recent times, losing just one of their past eight home league games.
It is also worth noting that each of Mallorca’s previous three matches have produced under 2.5 goals, so they look set to be involved in another low-scoring affair on Friday.
As for Osasuna, they head into Friday’s clash on a three-game winless run, having recorded one draw and two losses since their last victory.
Worse still, Osasuna have failed to score in each of their last three matches, playing out a goalless draw with Celta Vigo before losing to Valencia and Villarreal.
Osasuna kicked off 2023 with a six-game unbeaten streak across all competitions, securing four wins and two draws along the way.
They have taken a turn for the worse since then, however, winning just two of their nine encounters to leave them seven points outside the European places.
Head-to-head: Osasuna claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in January, meaning they have lost just one of their past 10 La Liga meetings with Mallorca.
That said, seven of the previous 10 La Liga encounters between Mallorca and Osasuna have ended in a draw, with five of those producing under 2.5 goals.
Team news: Mallorca have an injury-free squad at the moment, so head coach Javier Aguirre will be able to select his strongest starting XI on Friday.
On the flip side, Osasuna will be without the injured Ruben Pena and the suspended Darko Brasanac for the trip to the Balearic Islands.
When you couple the two-point gap between Mallorca and Osasuna with the recent H2H record of this fixture, all the signs point towards a stalemate on Friday.
Forebet predicts that Mallorca and Osasuna will play out a low-scoring draw, with both teams netting under 1.5 goals.