Real Sociedad vs Osasuna Prediction: Budimir to leave another bruise on La Real

Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid booked their places in the Copa del Rey semi-finals earlier this week, with the remaining two quarter-finals taking place on Thursday. First up, at 18:30, Real Sociedad host Osasuna at Reale Arena in San Sebastian, just four days after losing to the same opponents in Pamplona (2-1).

Below is my Real Sociedad vs Osasuna prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Real Sociedad right-back Alvaro Odriozola will miss a second successive match with a rib problem while a player in the same position, Hamari Traore, continues his recovery from an ACL injury.

Icelandic forward Orri Oskarsson did his chances of starting on Thursday no harm by netting a consolation off the bench in Sunday's league defeat to Osasuna.

Brais Mendez, Sheraldo Becker, Arsen Zakharyan and Aritz Elustondo also appeared as second-half substitutes at the Estadio El Sadar and will be in contention for starts in midweek.

Football Odds

Osasuna appear to have a fully fit squad on Thursday following the return from injury of on-loan Bayern Munich attacker Bryan Zaragoza in their weekend win over La Real. The Spaniard was introduced in the final five minutes on Sunday and looks set to receive more minutes in San Sebastian, although he may have to wait a little longer for a first start since December 2.

Should head coach Vicente Moreno decide to make some changes to his starting XI, Abel Bretones, Moi Gomez and Iker Munoz, his first three substitutes at the weekend, could come into his thinking.

Real Sociedad vs Osasuna Odds

Despite losing their last three head-to-heads with Osasuna and losing three of their last four games in all competitions, Real Sociedad arrive into Thursday's cup tie as 8/11 favourites to triumph without the need for extra time or penalties. Those odds hand the hosts an implied win probability of 57.9%, while Los Rojillos are 18/5, or a 21.7% chance, to do the same.

The draw, which would send the tie to an extra 30 minutes, is priced at 12/5, and both teams to score at 11/10. Osasuna are 2/1 to win the tie by any means, with Real Sociedad at 4/11.

Draw No Bet - Osasuna @ 5/2

Moreno has had Imanol Alguacil's number twice already this season, overseeing a 2-0 victory at the Reale Arena in October before completing a La Liga double last Sunday, winning 2-1 in Pamplona.

Real Sociedad also lost 1-0 at home to Osasuna last February, meaning Alguacil has suffered three consecutive defeats to Los Rojillos, the first with Jagoba Arrasate in charge of the opposition.

La Real's form in general this season hasn't been up to their usual standards with Sunday's loss at El Sadar consigning them to back-to-back league defeats and a third in four across all competitions.

Osasuna, meanwhile, are two points and three places higher than Real Sociedad in La Liga and are unbeaten in their last four games. They've only lost three times in their last 16 matches and all three defeats have come against sides currently in the top four - Real Madrid (4-0), Athletic Club (1-2) and Atletico Madrid (1-0).

Los Rojillos possess one of the worst away records in the Spanish top flight, with only four clubs picking up fewer points on their travels than Moreno's charges (eight), but their only road victory did come at the Reale Arena as they easily beat La Real thanks to two first-half strikes from Lucas Torro and Ante Budimir.

Osasuna have, though, played all four of their Copa del Rey ties this season away from home, winning all four without requiring extra time, including last time out in the competition at San Mames, where Athletic Club were tamed 3-2.

With La Real in terrific form at home since the start of November, winning seven of their last nine in all competitions there, backing Osasuna for victory without an insurance policy might be a risk not worth taking.

However, considering they lost 3-0 to the last Spanish opponents they faced in San Sebastian, Getafe, on January 26, and their recent head-to-head record with Osasuna, I like the look of Draw No Bet on the visitors at 5/2. This way, we still get solid odds, but if the game ends as a draw, our stake will be returned.

Anytime Goalscorer - Ante Budimir (OSA) @ 2/1

Cadiz (six) and Athletic Club (five) are the only Spanish clubs to have incurred the wrath of Budimir more times than Real Sociedad, whose defence has been breached on four occasions by the Croatian centre-forward.

The 33-year-old has faced La Real 12 times in his career, so he's scoring against them once every three games, on average, but all four goals have come in the last three meetings between the two teams, with Budimir responsible for four of Osasuna's five strikes in that period.

He even bagged a brace in a pre-season friendly last July as Osasuna beat La Real 2-1 in San Sebastian, but those goals don't count towards his record.

Like his club, Budimir has La Real's number of late, and he's been in terrific form in general this term, hitting three goals in as many Copa del Rey outings and netting 12 times in 22 La Liga appearances.

The former Real Mallorca man bagged a brace in the last round of this competition, helping put Athletic Club to the sword, meaning he has four goals in his last four games.

I fancy Osasuna to get on the scoresheet on Thursday, and Budimir is the obvious candidate to back in the anytime goalscorer market. At 2/1, he's still worth playing, in my opinion.

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