Alavés Cannot Afford Another Slip. Osasuna Know It.

Last Updated on April 4, 2026 8:31 am by ZUWP Automation

With Deportivo Alavés winless in five and six points adrift of safety’s comfort, Sunday’s fixture at Mendizorroza is running out of time to matter less.

Deportivo Alavés have not won a match in their last five attempts. Zero wins. Three draws. Two defeats. For a side sitting 17th in La Liga on 28 points, that is not a rough patch — it is a slow bleed. Osasuna arrive at Mendizorroza in a different mood entirely, six points better off and with a result against Real Madrid on their recent CV. The gap between these two sides right now is not just points. It is momentum, belief, and the creeping weight of necessity.

Match Details

• Fixture: Deportivo Alavés vs CA Osasuna
• Venue: Estadio de Mendizorroza
• Date: 5 April 2026
• Kick-off: 19:00 UTC
• Competition: La Liga 2025/26

Current Form

Alavés have not found a way to win since before February ended. Their last five reads: a 1-1 draw at Sevilla, a 2-2 home draw with Girona, a 0-2 defeat at Levante, a 2-3 loss at Valencia, and most recently a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal. Three points from five matches. The draws feel like moral victories that the table simply cannot honour.

What makes it more troubling is the nature of those results. Alavés have shown enough to avoid heavy defeats, but not enough to close games out. Conceding late, drawing when they needed to win — the pattern is familiar to any side that finishes a season in the wrong half of the table.

Osasuna’s form is uneven but contains something Alavés currently lack: a genuine win. Their 1W 2D 2L return over the last five is nothing to celebrate, but that single victory came at home to Real Madrid. A 2-1 win over the champions is a result that carries psychological weight regardless of context. They also drew 2-2 with Mallorca and held Elche to a goalless draw. The losses — 0-1 at Valencia and 1-3 at Real Sociedad — came away from home, which matters given they are the travelling side here.

Stakes and Implications

Alavés sit 17th on 28 points with a 7-7-14 record. Osasuna are 11th on 34 points. The six-point gap between them sounds comfortable from Osasuna’s vantage point, but for Alavés, every dropped point tightens the vice. A home defeat here would not just be three points lost — it would be a statement of intent from a side that has not won in five, playing in front of their own supporters.

Osasuna, meanwhile, have nothing to fear and everything to gain. Mid-table security versus lower-table anxiety rarely produces open football, but it does produce a fixture where one side’s desperation becomes the other’s opportunity.

Key Players to Watch

Deportivo Alavés

Lucas Boyé is Alavés’s most potent threat and, frankly, their most important player. Ten goals this season, ranked 18th in La Liga for scoring, he averages nearly a goal every other match. With 54 shots and 19 on target, he generates volume as well as quality. If Alavés are going to end this winless run, the ball needs to find Boyé in dangerous positions.

Antonio Blanco sits at the other end of the creative spectrum but is arguably just as vital. His 1,428 passes this season rank him 22nd in the entire league — a volume that reflects how much Alavés’s build-up runs through him. His 74 tackles also rank him 6th in La Liga, making him the engine and the shield in one. Whether Alavés can control the tempo of this match will depend heavily on how Blanco performs.

Álvaro García has created 11 big chances this season, ranking 22nd in La Liga for chance creation. In a match where Alavés need someone to unlock a compact Osasuna shape, that kind of output from midfield is precisely what is required.

CA Osasuna

Ante Budimir is the name that will concern Alavés most. Thirteen league goals this season, all of them from inside the box, with 26 shots on target from 71 attempts. He wins aerial duels, draws fouls, and converts big chances at a high rate — nine scored from 15 big chances faced. An Osasuna side that struggles for form still has a striker capable of deciding matches on his own.

Víctor Muñoz provides the creative link. Six goals and two assists from midfield, with 242 progressive carries — a figure that underlines his tendency to drive forward and arrive in dangerous areas. He is the kind of player who can make Alavés’s midfield look static if they fail to track his runs.

Rubén García Santos has five assists and eight big chances created this season, ranking 66th in La Liga for chance creation. With Budimir as the focal point, García Santos’s ability to find him in space will be central to how Osasuna approach this fixture.

Season Stats Comparison

The individual statistical leaders tell an interesting story about how these sides are constructed. Osasuna’s top scorer has more than double the goals of Alavés’s — Budimir’s 13 against Boyé’s 10. But Alavés’s creative numbers are striking: Blanco’s passing volume, García’s chance creation, and Tenaglia’s six assists from defence suggest a side that generates more than their results currently reflect.

The assist numbers from Alejandro Catena — ten for the season from centre-back — are remarkable and worth noting. A defender who ranks as Osasuna’s most creative distributor speaks to how much of their attacking play is built from deep.

Head to Head

The limited recent history between these sides offers Alavés no comfort. In their last three meetings, Osasuna have one win and two draws — Alavés have not won any of them. The pattern is thin enough to resist over-interpretation, but the direction of travel is clear.

The last time they met, in December 2025, Osasuna won 3-0 at home. It was a comprehensive victory, and Alavés will be looking to put that result firmly out of mind when they run out at Mendizorroza on Sunday.

Betting Odds

The market has this fixture finely balanced, with no strong favourite emerging across the three bookmakers. Alavés as the home side are priced between +140 and +153 — an implied probability of roughly 39-42%. Osasuna are rated similarly at +205 to +212 (around 32-33%), with the draw sitting at +210 to +215 (also around 32%).

The totals market is set at 2.25 goals with Pinnacle pricing the under at -116, suggesting a marginal lean toward a low-scoring affair. The spread consensus sits at level (0), reflecting the market’s uncertainty about which side has the edge. No steam moves have been detected and disagreement between books is minimal — the market is not making a strong statement either way.

Closing Thought

Alavés have not won in five matches. They are at home. They have a striker in Boyé who is capable, a midfielder in Blanco who is relentless, and a chance creator in Álvaro García who generates more than his side’s results suggest. But Osasuna have Budimir — a striker who scores when it matters — and a back line that kept a clean sheet in their last visit to this fixture. The question Sunday will answer is whether Alavés’s home advantage and desperation is enough to overcome Osasuna’s superior form and firepower. For the hosts, there is no comfortable answer to that question.