Overview
Levante is facing a great risk of returning to Segunda Division after only one season participating in La Liga. After 34 rounds, this team has only won 33 points with a record of 8 wins, 9 draws and 17 defeats, ranking 19th in the standings and 4 points behind the safe group.
Coach Luis Castro's team entered this match after a heavy 1-5 defeat to Villarreal. However, Levante's recent form is not entirely bad when they have won 7 points in the last 4 matches and only lost 2 in the past 9 rounds.
The problem with Levante lies in the fact that direct competitors are also constantly accumulating points, making the relegation race in La Liga extremely tense in the final stage of the season.
One of the reasons The Frogs are in the current situation is unstable home performance. Levante is owning the second worst home record in the league when they only won 20 points after 17 matches at their home ground.
However, they still have reason to hope as Osasuna is also playing very poorly away from home this season. The Navarre team has only won 2 out of 17 away matches in La Liga.
In the first leg at the beginning of the season, Osasuna once defeated Levante with a score of 2-0. Head-to-head statistics also somewhat lean towards the away team as Levante has only won one of their last seven encounters with Osasuna.
In all competitions, the two teams have faced each other 33 times. Osasuna is slightly better with 16 wins, while Levante has 13 triumphant victories, and the rest are 4 draws.
On the other side, Osasuna entered this match after a 1-2 defeat to Barcelona at home. Notably, all 3 goals in that match appeared in the last 10 minutes.
Coach Alessio Lisci's team is currently ranked 10th in the standings with 42 points after 34 matches, 5 points behind Celta Vigo's European Cup spot.
After finishing in ninth place last season, Osasuna still hopes to improve their performance in the final stage of the season, especially when they still have 3 important matches with Atletico Madrid, Espanyol and Getafe.
However, Osasuna's biggest weakness is still poor away form. They have only won 10 away points this season - a record only better than Mallorca and Elche in La Liga. This promises to bring a valuable opportunity for Levante in a vital match in the relegation race.
Personnel situation
Levante continues to face difficulties in terms of force before the important match against Osasuna when center-back Unai Elgezabal is definitely absent due to a knee injury.
The home team also faces the risk of losing two more important players, Carlos Alvarez and Ivan Romero. Both had to leave the field in the heavy defeat to Villarreal in the previous round and are currently not in the best physical condition.
In addition, Levante will not have the service of midfielder Kervin Arriaga due to suspension. The Honduran player received enough yellow cards as prescribed after the match against Villarreal.
In the opposite direction, Osasuna is only missing Victor Munoz due to a muscle injury and in general has a much more stable force than their opponent.
Raul Garcia impressed when he came on as a substitute and scored in the defeat to Barcelona in the most recent round. That performance could help the 25-year-old player get a chance to start in attack.
Expected lineup:
Ryan, Toljan, Moreno, Matturro, Varela, Raghouber, Losada, Martinez, Olasgasti, Romero, Espi.
Herrera, Rosier, Catena, Boyomo, Galan, Torro, Moncayola, Raul Garcia, Gomez, Moro, Budimir.
The match between Levante and Osasuna takes place at 2:00 AM on May 9 (Vietnam time).
