Upon their return from the international break, Real Betis will look to boost their claim for a spot in the top four of the La Liga table on Sunday, when they host Osasuna.
Los Verdiblancos remain fifth after a disappointing draw before the layoff, while their visitors have climbed into the top half thanks to an impressive run of form.
Match preview
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After establishing themselves in the top three of the La Liga table with 46 points from 25 games, Real Betis have experienced a slight dip in form recently.
The start of that did come in line with a tough schedule, though, as back-to-back victories were firstly followed by a 2-1 defeat to second-placed Sevilla.
Manuel Pellegrini's side then fell to a 3-1 loss at the hands of Atletico Madrid, as Cristian Tello's equaliser was followed by goals from Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar for the away team, seeing Real Betis fall behind Los Colchoneros and outside of the top four as a result.
That was followed by an exit from the Europa League as they were narrowly beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt, and, while they were able to return to winning ways with a 1-0 league win over Athletic Bilbao, thanks to Borja Iglesias's goal, Los Verdiblancos headed into the break on the back of a goalless stalemate with Celta Vigo.
As a result of that underwhelming result, the gap between Pellegrini's side and Atletico Madrid stretched to four points with nine league matches to go, and they will know they have little more room for error if they are to stand a chance of taking a top-four spot.
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In their bid to return to winning ways, the Sevilla outfit play host to an Osasuna team who have enjoyed a slight improvement recently.
After consecutive defeats in tough clashes with Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad, Jagoba Arrasate's men have won two of their last three outings, firstly beating seventh-placed Villarreal 1-0 thanks to Ezequiel Avila's second-half goal.
While they went on to be thrashed by a resurgent Barcelona side, Los Rojillos bounced back in style in their most recent outing, comfortably beating Levante 3-1 with Avila, Ante Budimir and Darko Brasanac on the scoresheet before the visitors clinched a consolation goal.
On the back of their recent upturn in form, Arrasate's side have climbed back up to 10th spot in the Spanish top flight, and they will now aim to keep hold of their top-half position in the final nine games of the term.
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Team News
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Real Betis have an unenviable list of injuries to deal with, as Martin Montoya, Victor Camarasa, Andres Guardado and Cristian Tello are all set to continue spells on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, key attacker Nabil Fekir, who has contributed 10 goals and eight assists in all competitions this season, will again miss out due to a suspension alongside centre-back German Pezzella, who was shown a fifth yellow card of the season in the draw with Celta Vigo.
In Fekir's absence, more attacking responsibility will fall on Borja Iglesias, who has eight goals to his name in 25 La Liga appearances this term, while Victor Ruiz will likely slot in alongside Marc Bartra at the heart of the back four.
Following their 3-1 victory before the break, Osasuna could come into the weekend with an unchanged starting XI, with Jon Moncayola, Lucas Torro and Darko Brasanac forming an established midfield trio.
Ante Budimir will continue to lead their line after hitting his third league goal of the season in that contest.
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Bravo; Bellerin, Bartra, Ruiz, Miranda; Rodriguez, Carvalho; Juanmi, Rodri, Canales; Iglesias
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, D Garcia, Cruz, Sanchez; Moncayola, Torro, Brasanac; Avila, Budimir, R Garcia
We say: Real Betis 2-1 Osasuna
While they saw their form take a dip early in March, Real Betis still boast the quality to outclass their opponents at the weekend and will be set on making a return to winning ways.
We ultimately predict a home victory for Los Verdiblancos, albeit a hard-fought one.
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 Real Betis win with a probability of 53.05%. A draw had a probability of 24.8% and a win for Osasuna had a probability of 22.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Betis win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.98%) and 2-1 (9.56%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.75%), while for a Osasuna win it was 0-1 (7.23%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 2.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Real Betis would win this match.
