Osasuna's Defensive Crisis Hands Deportivo La Coruña a Golden Opportunity

Let me tell you what I see here. Deportivo La Coruña at home, building momentum, putting teams to the sword. Osasuna arriving with a defence that has shipped twelve goals in five La Liga matches. This is not a complicated preview. This is a question of standards, and right now Osasuna's standards are nowhere near good enough.

Deportivo's Form: Doing the Basics Right

Deportivo have won two and drawn two of their last five La Liga matches, losing just once. They beat Valencia three goals to one and followed that up with a three-two win over Villarreal. That tells you they can compete. That tells you there is desire in this squad.

The thing is, they have also conceded in every single one of those five matches. No clean sheets. Six goals against in total. So they are not a perfect side. But they are a side going in the right direction, and at home on a Monday night, that matters.

Osasuna's Problems Are Not Small

Listen, twelve goals conceded in five La Liga matches is not a blip. That is a pattern. That is an attitude problem somewhere on the pitch, or a total failure to execute the basics at the back. Osasuna lost to Atletico Madrid by four goals to nil. They lost to Deportivo Alaves by five goals to two. Alaves. Five goals.

Their only clean sheet across those five matches came in a one-nil win over Getafe. One clean sheet in five. Twenty per cent. That is unacceptable for any side that wants to be taken seriously in this division, end of.

The Injury Situation Piling Pressure on Osasuna

Osasuna are also coming into this fixture carrying significant injury problems. They have players out with major and moderate injuries, with some of those absences stretching back to August. The squad has been thin. The thing is, that does not excuse the performances. You put on the shirt, you compete. But it does tell you this group is stretched and struggling to find any consistency.

Deportivo have an injury concern of their own, but it is one moderate absence compared to the pile Osasuna are managing. Accountability has to start somewhere, and for Osasuna, this looks like another match where the cracks will show.

The Betting Angle

I back one selection hard. I hate accumulators. They are for people who do not trust their own judgement.

My selection here is Deportivo La Coruña to win. Short and simple. They are at home. They are in form. They know how to score goals. Osasuna are conceding at a rate that should embarrass their coaching staff. The home side have won their last two La Liga matches and scored three goals in each of them. That is not luck. That is a team that knows how to hurt you.

Both teams to score also has serious appeal given Deportivo have conceded in all five of their last La Liga matches and Osasuna have scored in four of theirs. But the win for the home side is where my money sits.

Verdict

Deportivo La Coruña to win. Osasuna are in a bad way defensively, they are injury-hit, and they are walking into a ground where the home side have real belief right now. Desire and basics will decide this. Right now, only one team looks like they have both. Deportivo La Coruña, Monday night, at home. Back them.