Sevilla could have the chance to move to the top of La Liga with a win over Osasuna on Saturday afternoon, should Real Madrid slip up away to Elche.
Having lost one game all season, Sevilla will be hoping this is the year they end their 75-year wait for a Spanish title.
Match preview
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No stranger to success in recent years, having won 10 trophies since the turn of the century, Sevilla are in the midst of their most successful era as a club since the 1940s.
Yet, despite their triumphs of late, Sevilla are yet to win a league title in the past 75 years, last lifting La Liga in 1946.
Challenging at the top end of the table for most of the previous campaign, Julen Lopetegui will be confident he has now assembled a squad capable of pushing for a La Liga title this year.
Recent arrivals include the likes of Rafa Mir, Thomas Delaney and Erik Lamela, who have all come into the Sevilla squad and helped elevate their fortunes.
A 1-0 defeat to Granada in the last game before October's international break remains their only loss of the campaign, having won an impressive six La Liga matches this term.
However, that number does suggest there has been room for some Sevilla improvement, much like their performance last time out against Mallorca.
A Lamela goal 20 minutes from time snatched a draw for Sevilla, who missed the opportunity to lead La Liga heading into the weekend, as Real dropped points too.
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The team that denied Real a win was none other than this weekend's opponents Osasuna, who will be looking to back up their midweek 0-0 draw with another upset at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
Wednesday's match-up against Los Blancos started what looks set to be a tricky run of games for Osasuna, who travel to Sevilla before facing Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid either side of the international break.
Currently flying high in sixth, it is unlikely they will still be threatening the European places at the end of that run, not least because their form against Sevilla has been woeful of late.
Winless in their previous six meetings with the Andalusian club, the last time Osasuna won at Sevilla came back in February 2006.
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Team News
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Whilst a sensational start in its own right, much of Osasuna's strong form has been down to their luck with injuries, and Jagoba Arrasate will once again have close to a full squad to call upon.
Jose Angel is still serving a suspension picked up in their recent 1-1 draw against Granada, whilst Aridane Hernandez (muscle) and Jonas Ramalho (thigh) are both missing through injury.
That means the attacking responsibilities will once again fall upon Roberto Torres, who has shone this season for Osasuna, scoring twice and assisting a further two.
Summer signing Mir has been the Sevilla player most amongst the goals with four, whilst the return of Youssef En-Nesyri has been a welcome boost for Lopetegui.
Similarly, Lamela has netted three times in all competitions and he will no doubt start in a full-strength Sevilla side.
Karim Rekik is the only absentee for the hosts, who should be well equipped to extend their unbeaten run to seven against Osasuna on Saturday.
Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Bono; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Acuna; Fernando, Jordan, Oliver; Munir, Mir, Suso
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, U. Garcia, D. Garcia, Cruz, Sanchez; Torro, Moncayola, Martinez; Avilla, Kike
We say: Sevilla 2-1 Osasuna
There have been plenty of encouraging signs for Sevilla so far this season but extending their title challenge across a full campaign will prove tricky.
If they want to maintain ambitions of a famous La Liga title win, it is wins against the likes of Osasuna that could define their hopes.
Top tip
Amos Murphy
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 Sevilla win with a probability of 59.64%. A draw had a probability of 23.7% and a win for Osasuna had a probability of 16.61%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sevilla win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.26%) and 2-1 (9.4%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.06%), while for a Osasuna win it was 0-1 (6.52%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 12.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sevilla would win this match.
