Real Madrid will aim to keep the momentum going from their dramatic El Clasico win over Barcelona when they welcome Osasuna to the Spanish capital for Wednesday's La Liga battle.
Los Blancos came out on top by two goals to one against Barca in Sunday's battle, while the in-form visitors dropped two points in disappointing fashion against Granada.
Match preview
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Even in Barcelona's current predicament both on and off the pitch, El Clasico day always produces a sense of uncertainty no matter which team is on song, and not until the dying embers of the game was the contest at Camp Nou well and truly settled.
After David Alaba's opener in the 32nd minute, the net would not ripple again until the third minute of second-half injury time as Lucas Vazquez nipped in ahead of Eric Garcia to prod home, and Sergio Aguero's strike right at the death was too little too late for Barcelona.
Having now passed the Camp Nou test, Real Madrid have leaders Real Sociedad firmly in their sights, and the second-placed Blancos have now cut the lead at the top to just one point following Sociedad's 2-2 draw with reigning champions Atletico Madrid.
Despite going winless in three games across all competitions before the October international break, Carlo Ancelotti's side have now posted back-to-back wins over Barca and Shakhtar Donetsk, while 24 goals scored is unsurprisingly the highest tally in La Liga.
Furthermore, Real Madrid welcome Osasuna to the capital on a 13-game unbeaten league run on home soil - during which they have scored at least two goals in 10 of those encounters - but their upcoming visitors command plenty of respect.
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Seemingly destined to claim a fourth La Liga win on the bounce during the visit of Granada, early-season surprise package Osasuna went into the half-time break 1-0 up courtesy of Chimy Avila's strike just before the referee's whistle blew.
However, Jagoba Arrasate's side were forced to see out the final 15 minutes of the encounter with 10 men following Cote's red card, and Granada substitute Angel Montoro would find the back of the net within seven minutes of his introduction to steal a point for the visitors in the dying embers.
While that was a frustrating way to end the weekend, take nothing away from Osasuna's remarkable start to the 2021-22 season, as a tally of 10 points taken from their last four matches sees them sit sixth in the table after 10 games.
Arrasate remained upbeat after the encounter with Granada, though, and having also overcome Europa League winners Villarreal just after the international break, Osasuna are not travelling to Madrid simply to be rolled over by Los Blancos.
However, Osasuna have lost eight and drawn one of their last nine matches with Real Madrid in all competitions, and not since the 2010-11 season have this week's visitors prevailed against the capital giants - claiming a 1-0 success in January 2011.
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Team News
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Real Madrid manager Ancelotti eased any concerns of a potential injury for Thibaut Courtois after El Clasico, but Federico Valverde will miss out after taking a blow to the knee.
Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal were both passed fit for the encounter - although the former remained on the bench - while Gareth Bale and Dani Ceballos remain out while Isco and Luka Jovic are both major doubts.
Carvajal ought to push Vazquez for a start this week given Real's daunting run of fixtures, while Marco Asensio played a big part in his side's second against Barca and is an option for change on the right over Rodrygo.
Meanwhile, Osasuna will be forced into a change at left-back following Cote's red card and subsequent suspension, so Manu Sanchez and Juan Cruz will battle for the chance to start against Real.
Jonas Ramalho is expected to be the visitors' only absentee through injury, with Ante Budimir and Aridane Hernandez both back in full training despite missing the draw with Granada.
Arrasate's decision to switch to a five-man defence paid dividends against Villarreal, so a similar move here could see Hernandez reintroduced alongside David Garcia and Unai Garcia.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Vidal, D. Garcia, U. Garcia, Hernandez, Sanchez; Moncayola, Torro, Brasanac; R. Garcia, Avila
We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Osasuna
Osasuna's perfect record of four wins from four away from home this term is something to behold, but they may come unstuck against a Real Madrid side on cloud nine following their El Clasico triumph.
Ancelotti's side cannot afford to take their foot off the gas for a split second against the away day specialists, but the hosts' in-form attackers can break their visitors' resistance to temporarily reclaim top spot in the table.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Real Madrid win with a probability of 65.89%. A draw had a probability of 20.4% and a win for Osasuna had a probability of 13.73%.
The most likely scoreline for a Real Madrid win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.34%) and 2-1 (9.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.68%), while for a Osasuna win it was 0-1 (4.83%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 6.2% likelihood.
