Real Madrid vs Osasuna: TV channel, live stream, team news & preview

Real Madrid host Osasuna at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, aiming to maintain the pace at the summit of La Liga.

Zinedine Zidane’s side might have had an uncertain start to the season, but tight wins over Levante and Sevilla have carried them joint top of the standings alongside Athletic Club and Granada, who have played a game more.

Osasuna, meanwhile, have made a positive impression on their return to the top flight after a year away and are as yet undefeated, though four of their five games have ended all square.

Will their record finally go in the capital?

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LaLiga

Osasuna

OSA

3 Jan 202610:15

Athletic Bilbao

ATH

LaLiga

Real Madrid

RMA

4 Jan 202610:15

Real Betis

BET

In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) .

New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.

The match will be available to watch live on Premier Sports 2. It can be streamed via Premier Player.

Left-back promises to be a problem area of Zinedine Zidane after Ferland Mendy picked up a fresh injury, ruling him out along with Marcelo. Nacho may take up the station there.

Marco Asensio is ruled out long-term whole Luka Modric and Isco are also missing.

Gareth Bale has been left out of the squad, possibly to rest him up before Saturday’s derby with Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid starting XI: Areola; Odriozola, Militao, Ramos, Nacho; Kroos, Casemiro, Valverde; Vazquez, Jovic, Vinicius.

Osasuna are faced with numerous problems in defence and midfield. The rearguard will be without Unai Garcia and David Garcia, while in the heart of the park, Oier Sanjurjo is the key absentee.

Kike Barja, Inigo Perez and Darko Bransanac are also absent.

Osasuna starting XI: Ruben: Lillo, Navas, Roncaglia, Estupinan; Ibanez, Moncayola, Merida, Garcia, Cardona, Brandon.

Real Madrid are heavy 1/3 favourites to win this match with  bet365 . Osasuna can be backed at 15/2, while a draw is on offer at 19/4.

Click here to see all of bet365's offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.

Getty

Real Madrid could end Wednesday at the top of La Liga if they can overcome Osasuna at the Bernabeu.

It would be a remarkable recovery from a week previous, when they were embarrassed in a 3-0 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

A 1-0 weekend win over Sevilla has made it possible, though without competitive victories back-to-back this season, they are far from guaranteed to overcome opponents who are unbeaten through their first five games and who held Barcelona to a 2-2 draw in Pamplona.

Head coach Zinedine Zidane is well used to the vagaries of life at the Bernabeu and appears quite prepared to stomach them.

“When we lose, I’m out and when we win, I’m in,” he admitted to the press. “I don’t think about it, it’s just the way things are.

“I have to think about the matches and that’s all I’m interested in.”

Life, though, has been complicated at the Bernabeu because of injury concerns, with Ferland Mendy’s latest issue, announced on Tuesday, raising questions once again over the preparation of the Madrid players.

Los Blancos have sustained 65 injuries since the beginning of last season, including 15 this term alone, far exceeding the number of problems faced by Clasico rivals Barcelona (41) over the same period.

“It bothers me but it doesn’t worry me, these things can happen,” Zidane said.

Nevertheless, it leaves his side vulnerable on a more regular basis and that is what Osasuna will try to exploit when they travel to the capital.

“The fact that we’re undefeated gives us confidence that, if we do things right, we’ll be competitive,” visiting head coach Jagoba Arrasate noted. 

“We have to accumulate points and you never know where they can come from.

“It is an opportunity knowing that, in theory, it is one of the most difficult away games we have to play.”