Osasuna vs Mallorca Prediction: Budimir to send reminder to former employers

Osasuna and Real Mallorca began the 2024/25 La Liga season with 1-1 draws at home last weekend, to Leganes and Real Madrid respectively, and the pair meet each other at Estadio El Sadar on Saturday (16:00, La Liga TV) in the second round of fixtures.

Read on for my Osasuna vs Mallorca prediction and all the latest team news ahead of this game in Pamplona.

Team News

Osasuna suffered no injuries against Leganes but head coach Vicente Moreno substituted Iker Munoz for Jon Moncayola at half-time and swapped out Abel Bretones and Moi Gomez for Juan Cruz and Bayern Munich loanee Bryan Zaragoza on the hour mark.

Moncayola, Cruz and Zaragoza must now all be in contention to start on Saturday after their introductions helped to turn the tide, with Juan Soriano's 79th-minute own goal levelling the game at 1-1 after Leganes' Juan Cruz had opened the scoring midway through the first half.

Kike Barja remains sidelined through injury, however, while Jose Arnaiz is a doubt.

Football Odds

Mallorca head coach Jagoba Arrasate is less likely to rotate after his charges produced a stirring comeback against Real Madrid last Sunday. Rodrygo struck in the 13th minute for Los Blancos, and with Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham also on the pitch, it had the potential of being a long night for Los Piratas.

But Mallorca hung on in there and found an equaliser through Vedat Muriqi in the 53rd minute, and Arrasate left it another 14 minutes before making his first substitutions.

Javi Llabres is definitely out with a muscular problem, but the rest of the squad is fit and raring to go.

Osasuna vs Mallorca Odds

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The hosts are 7/5 to triumph on Saturday, giving them an implied win probability of 41.7%, while the visitors are 9/4, or a 30.8% chance, to come away from Pamplona with all three points.

The draw is available at 2/1 and over 2.5 total goals at 13/8.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 11/10

The above selection landed in both teams' games last weekend as they played out 1-1 draws. In fact, Osasuna and Mallorca both recovered from first-half deficits to claim a point on the opening weekend of the new season.

BTTS - Yes was also a winner in both meetings between these sides in 2023/24; Mallorca secured a 3-2 victory at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix last December before the teams drew 1-1 on May 14.

Mallorca's main centre-forward Muriqi was injured for the first game and suspended for the return fixture; with the Kosovan up top, their chances of finding the net are surely heightened this weekend.

Osasuna, meanwhile, will be expected to score in front of a home crowd against a club that finished five points and four places below them last season.

Ante Budimir Anytime Scorer @ 7/4

Ante Budimir enjoyed the most productive league campaign of his career in 2023/24, scoring 17 times in 33 La Liga appearances for Osasuna. The Croatian found the net 16 times in his first 31 games before injury struck him down, but he returned for the final two matches and bagged on the final weekend against Villarreal.

Then, in June, the 33-year-old scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Portugal as Croatia geared up for the European Championship.

Budimir failed to fire in Germany as his nation crashed out at the group stage.

Still, he returned in fine fettle for Osasuna's pre-season preparations as he bagged a brace in a 2-1 win against Real Sociedad on July 31, and he played the duration of his side's league opener against Leganes last weekend.

Budimir didn't get on the scoresheet but was a constant menace in attack, firing off three shots, one of which was saved by the goalkeeper.

Coming up against one of his former clubs on Saturday, for whom he scored 19 times in 57 appearances between 2018-2021, Budimir will be desperate to get off the mark this term, especially as he was kept on the bench for this corresponding fixture in May last season.

He's favourite in the anytime scorer market at 7/4, but I still think there's value to be had there, especially as I am already backing Osasuna to find the net at least once.

Offers

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