Our football match prediction:
Real Sociedad
Match Time & Date:
05/02/2017
17:30 GMT
Prediction: 2-0
Osasuna
Real Sociedad will be looking to make amends for a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid when they face relegation strugglers Osasuna at their Estadio Municipal de Anoeta on Matchday 21. La Real have been impressive on home soil this season and considering that a win over los Rojillos could see them regain their spot in top four, we predict that the hosts will adopt an attack-minded approach in Sunday’s football match. The Basques are after their seventh home win of the season and we do not believe that Osasuna are capable of spoiling Real Sociedad’s party at “Anoeta”. Petar Vasiljevic’s men recorded only one win in previous 13 games in all competitions and, as things stand now, they are likely to drop to Segunda Division at the end of the season. It has to be noted that Real Sociedad recorded a 2-0 win over Osasuna at Estadio el Sadar in the reverse fixture.
Highlighted Player (Asier Illarramendi):
Asier Illarramendi is a product of Real Sociedad’s youth school. He played for Real Sociedad B between 2008 and 2011, scoring 7 goals in 93 appearances for the Basque outfit and he made his first team debut on 23 January, 2011 in a 2-1 defeat to Villarreal. After impressing with Real Sociedad in the 2012/2013 Primera Division campaign, Real Madrid chiefs decided to sign him on 12 July, 2013 for a fee of €32.2 million. Back then that was the highest amount paid by the club for a Spanish footballer, but he failed to impress at Real Madrid. After spending two seasons at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Asier Illarramendi returns to Real Sociedad on 26 August, 2015 and he has been playing for the Anoeta outfit ever since. Asier Illarramendi scored one goal in 33 appearances for La Real in the 2015/2016 La Liga campaign. The talented midfielder has 16 caps for Spain U21 and it has to be noted that he represented La Furia Roja at the 2013 UEFA European Championship.
Highlighted Team (Osasuna):
Osasuna are a Basque football team that plays in Spanish La Liga. Los Rojillos are based in Pamplona and and the club were founded in 1920. Estadio El Sadar has been the home of Osasuna since 1967 and the capacity of the stadium is 19,800. The colour of Osasuna’s home kit is red, while the team’s shorts are navy blue. Los Rojillos dropped to the Segunda Division at the end of the 2013/2014 La Liga campaign, but they did not spend too many time in the Spanish second tier. The club returned to the elite division in 2016 after beating Girona in the play-offs. Osasuna made it to the Spanish Copa del Rey final in 2005, but they eventually lost to Real Betis after extra time in the title game. The meaning of the word Osasuna is “health” in Basque and it is used in a sense of strength.
