Deportivo La Coruña host Osasuna on 2 November 2026 in a mid table La Liga meeting that both clubs could really use to win. Deportivo sit 12th with 11 points from 10 games while Osasuna are 14th on the same tally. The home side returned to the top flight as Segunda runners-up in 2025/26 and their inability to string wins together at home tells you more about how their season is going than the promotion story does. Osasuna, meanwhile, have turned back to Jagoba Arrasate after dismissing Luis Miguel Ramis on 12 October and the honeymoon period has been short. No meaningful head to head data exists between Hidalgo and Arrasate and while Arrasate knows Deportivo reasonably well from his first Osasuna spell between 2018 and 2024, the circumstances have changed enough on both sides that it probably doesn't tell us much.
Deportivo are winless in their last six league outings, with a 0-1 defeat at Atlético on 24 October followed by a 1-1 draw with Levante, a 2-3 loss at Real Sociedad and another 1-1 against Betis. Their last five reads W-D-L-L-W.
Deportivo will be without four players who would each normally start. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still out after knee surgery in September, having scored five goals before going down. Bright Ede has a hamstring issue, Marc Casado is out with a shoulder problem and Zakaria Eddahchouri has a fractured wrist. Osasuna have their own concerns: Jorge Herrando is out with an adductor complaint, Romain Del Castillo is unavailable due to a mix of fitness and adductor issues and Aimar Oroz is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Losing Aubameyang is the more visible blow, pushing Yeremay Hernández and Bil Nsongo into bigger roles, with Mario Soriano stepping into a more prominent position at ten. Budimir, already on seven goals, is the fixed point Osasuna's attacks run through but losing Oroz and Del Castillo thins the creativity behind him noticeably.
Deportivo under Hidalgo typically set up in a 4-2-3-1 and the absence of Casado and Ede weakens the midfield screen enough that they could be more exposed to Osasuna's pressing runners than Hidalgo would like, with Nsongo leading the line in search of his first serious goal return. Osasuna revert to a 4-3-3 under Arrasate, with Budimir's service from Rubén García and Moi Gómez carrying most of the attacking weight, though the left side loses much creativity without Oroz and Del Castillo. The most interesting battle is probably Budimir against Deportivo's centre backs: if Osasuna can isolate him against a high line, chances will come. If Hernández can get in behind Osasuna's full backs, that creates problems in the other direction.
Deportivo are unbeaten in their last five home La Liga meetings with Osasuna, with five clean sheets across three wins and two draws and this is also the first top flight encounter between the sides since April 2017. Creative players being absent on both sides means dead balls could easily prove decisive here. Deportivo carry a threat from corners and free kicks through aerial presence and good delivery and Osasuna's defensive block means they can spring quickly from clearances.
We're going with 2-2. Deportivo's home shape should keep Osasuna at arm's length for stretches but without Aubameyang they lack a reliable finisher to punish that control. Osasuna have Budimir's finishing to fall back on and three weeks under Arrasate is probably enough to restore some defensive shape. Both attacks feel brittle enough that a pair of goals each seems more likely than either side keeping a clean sheet.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
