Still seeking their first La Liga win of the campaign, basement club Levante welcome Osasuna to the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia on Sunday evening.
Both teams enter this contest off the back of comfortable victories in the first round of the Copa del Rey against fifth division outfits.
Match preview
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After a run of 15 league games without a victory, Levante finally claimed their first win of the 2021-22 campaign in style, albeit against fifth tier side Huracan Melilla in the Copa del Rey when they cruised to an 8-0 triumph away from home on Thursday.
A hat-trick from Alex Blesa as well as strikes from Roberto Soldado (2), Dani Gomez (2) and Mickael Malsa helped the Frogs leap into the next round, where they will face fourth division outfit Alcoyano in just under two weeks' time.
Following the dismissal of Javier Pereira, who lasted just 45 days in the dugout, Alessio Lisci selected the team on Thursday and has been placed in interim charge until Levante find a permanent replacement.
The Frogs are not only searching for their first league win of the season but also their third manager, having already sacked Paco Lopez earlier this campaign.
Lisci is now preparing his team for Sunday's clash against an Osasuna side, who they have beaten in three of their last six top-flight games against them, including last season's 3-1 away victory in September 2020.
All of the previous three teams who failed to win any of their opening 15 La Liga matches were eventually relegated, a statistic which does not bode well for Levante. However, a victory on Sunday could see them move to within two points of safety.
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Osasuna ended a six-game winless run with a comfortable 4-0 victory away against fifth division side San Agustin in the first round of the Copa del Rey on Thursday, thanks to strikes from Ivan Barbero, Roberto Torres, Javier Ontiveros and Ezequiel Avila.
Jagoba Arrasate will be hoping that this victory, albeit against a much weaker opponent, can be the start of a much stronger run of form for Los Rojillos across all competitions.
After finishing in 10th and 11th place in the last two La Liga seasons since returning to the top flight in 2019-20, Osasuna are on course to end the current campaign in a similar position, as they are now placed 10th in the table after 15 games – winning, drawing and losing five matches each.
Los Rojillos are currently enduring their longest winless La Liga run in 2021, but they should be confident of ending this unwanted record with three points against the league's lowest ranked side in Levante.
Osasuna won 1-0 at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia last season and another victory on Sunday could see them move to within one point of the top six.
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Team News
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Levante midfielder Gonzalo Melero is doubtful with a muscle injury, while Sergio Postigo is back training with the first team after recovering from a calf problem, but is unlikely to feature this weekend.
Experienced striker Soldado, who has scored eight goals in 16 La Liga appearances against Osasuna, will be hoping to start his first league game in nearly a month either ahead of or alongside Roger Marti, who has failed to score in each of his last six matches.
As for Osasuna, they have no injury concerns this weekend, though midfielder Rober Ibanez remains in self-isolation after contracting coronavirus.
Lucas Torro is back from suspension and is expected to start in centre-midfield alongside Darko Brasanac and Jon Moncayola.
Strikers Kike, Avilar and Ante Budimir will all be fighting for a place in attack, with the former the most likely to start.
Levante possible starting lineup:
Cardenas; Son, Mustafi, Vezo, Clerc; Bardhi, Campana, Malsa; De Frutos, Soldado, Morales
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, U. Garcia, D. Garcia, Sanchez; Barja, Moncayola, Torro, Brasanac, R. Garcia; Kike
We say: Levante 1-2 Osasuna
Levante are desperate to claim their first three points of the campaign and will view Sunday's fixture as a winnable game against another out-of-form top-flight team.
However, Osasuna seem to be the stronger of the two sides and may just do enough to edge this contest.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 Osasuna win with a probability of 39.91%. A win for Levante had a probability of 32.23% and a draw had a probability of 27.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Osasuna win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.23%) and 0-2 (7.49%). The likeliest Levante win was 1-0 (10.42%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.09%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.5% likelihood.
