• Competition: La Liga
• Date: Monday, 16th September, 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CEST
• Venue: Campo de Futbol de Vallecas (Madrid)

On Monday evening, Rayo Vallecano will welcome Osasuna in the fifth La Liga round at Campo de Futbol de Vallecas in Madrid.

Under coach Andoni Iraola, Rayo Vallecano became a stable mid-table team. However, after he left the club, Rayo had a terrible last season, finishing 17th with only 38 points. Luckily for them, the bottom three teams (Granada, Almeria, and Cadiz) were terrible, and 38 points were enough for survival. This year, "Los Franjirrojos" opened the season well, with four points in the first two matches against Real Sociedad and Getafe. However, after a good start, they lost back-to-back games, and the last one against Espanyol was particularly worrisome as newly promoted Espanyol totally outplayed them. Right now, Rayo Vallecano are 11th with four points in four rounds. Their goal for this season is surely to try to avoid a relegation battle and secure a mid-table finish.

Since returning to the Spanish top-flight division in 2019/20, Osasuna became one of the more stable teams, constantly finishing between seventh and eleventh place. Over the Summer, their squad suffered minimal changes, and it is fair to expect at least another mid-table finish. And indeed, they opened the season well, with seven points in the first four rounds. Right now, they are 7th but just one point away from 2nd place!

Rayo Vallecano vs Osasuna pick: Both teams to score

Last year, Rayo Vallecano had massive problems offensively, averaging only 0.76 goals per game. Even though they aren't impressive this season, we can see some improvement as they scored at least one goal in three of four games, even scoring against teams like Real Sociedad and Barcelona, which are among the best defensive teams in La Liga. So, scoring at home against Osasuna shouldn't be a problem.

Like Rayo Vallecano, Osasuna also scored at least a goal in three of four games so far. They were particularly impressive offensively in the last match, scoring three goals against Celta (3:2).

On the other hand, neither team impressed defensively, and it is hard to expect a clean sheet from them at this moment. In the first four games, both teams kept their net intact once.

In the previous h2h game, Rayo Vallecano won 2:1 at Campo de Futbol de Vallecas. Additionally, both teams scored in three of the last four h2h games. Considering all the above, we expect both teams to score at least once.