Osasuna face a key test on Monday, 26 October, when they travel to the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium to face Sevilla in LaLiga's tenth round. The Navarrese side, tenth in the table with 11 points, need a result to move away from the lower reaches of the standings and improve a defensive record that is the league's worst, having conceded 18 goals in nine games. With three wins and two draws from their nine matches, the team trails league leaders Barcelona by 16 points.
The arrival of Jagoba Arrasate in the dugout on 12 October marked a change of direction after the dismissal of Luis Miguel Ramis. The Basque coach, who knows the club well, has the task of stabilising a team coming off a 2-0 win over Racing Santander on Sunday 18 October, with goals from Ante Budimir and Asier Osambela. That, however, was their only victory in the last five matchdays, a period which also included a heavy 5-2 defeat at Real Betis on 11 October.
Croatian striker Ante Budimir is Osasuna's main attacking threat, with seven goals in nine appearances this season, making him the team's top scorer. His effectiveness will be key to trying to surprise a Sevilla side sitting fifth with 14 points, who have scored in every league game so far. The home manager, Luis García Plaza, has identified two clear tasks for the match. "Maintaining attacking variety and reducing the number of situations in which opponents create high-quality chances after we lose possession," he said.
Recent history at the Sánchez-Pizjuán favours Sevilla, though Osasuna proved they can win in the most recent league meeting between the sides, a 2-1 victory for the Pamplona-based team. For Monday's game, the visitors will need to rely on their attack while trying to fix the defensive issues that have given them a negative goal difference of -8, with 10 goals scored and 18 conceded.
The match kicks off at 21:00 local time and will close the tenth round of fixtures. With six points separating the two teams, a positive result for Osasuna could mean a significant jump up the table, closer to the European places occupied by their hosts, who are sixth in the table.
