Celta Vigo vs Valencia Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Spanish Primera
Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!
As they seek to avoid another relegation battle, Celta Vigo are looking to start their season with back-to-back victories as they welcome a Valencia side to Balaidos this weekend that gave Barcelona a run for their money last week.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 23rd August, 2024 - UK – 6:00pm / US ET – 1:00pm / US PT – 10:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so Celta Vigo vs Valencia may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN+
CELTA VIGO PREVIEW: OPENING DAY VICTORY
Rafa Benitez presided over a difficult six or seven months or so for Celta last season before their B team coach Claudio Giraldez was appointed and managed to steer them clear of the bottom three and the relegation places. The Galicians will hope they won’t need a rescue act this time around and they began with a victory on the opening day of the season.
Playing at Balaidos, Celta went behind after 17 minutes to Deportivo Alaves with Kike Garcia opening the scoring for the Basque club. The hosts couldn’t get their equaliser until the 66th minute when Williot Swedberg managed to equalise before former Liverpool striker and Celta’s key man Iago Aspas notched a late winning goal.
VALENCIA PREVIEW: DIFFICULT TO PLAY AGAINST
Under the management of Ruben Baraja, who was originally in charge of the club on an interim basis as he kept them up on the final day of the season in the 2022/23 campaign, Valencia are looking to build towards another mid-table finish this time around with an awkward and difficult style of football to play against.
The Valencians hosted one of the Clasico giants in Barcelona at Mestalla last weekend and were left frustrated to have been defeated by two goals to one. They went ahead via Hugo Duro in the 44th minute but then Barca forward Robert Lewandowski scored goals shortly before and then shortly after the half-time interval to turn the game on its head.
CELTA VIGO TEAM NEWS: POTENTIALLY UNCHANGED
On the opening day of the season, Claudio Giraldez opted for a back-three system with Iago Aspas and Jonathan Bamba in behind Greece international Tasos Douvikas in an entertaining front three.
The one change that may occur for Celta would be that the scorer of last week’s equaliser, Williot Swedberg, may come into the eleven in place of Fran Beltran for this one.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Ivan Villar; Javi Manquillo, Starfelt, Carlos Dominguez; Hugo Alvarez, Damian Rodriguez, Swedberg, Oscar Mingueza; Iago Aspas, Bamba; Douvikas
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
VALENCIA TEAM NEWS: ADAPTING DEFENSIVELY
With key defenders still unavailable, Ruben Baraja has had to adjust to find an effective defence. Mouctar Diakhaby remains injured after suffering a serious injury against Real Madrid in March, whilst captain Jose Luis Gaya is also sidelined.
Typical of a lot of Spanish coaches in the last decade or so, Ruben Baraja has preferred a narrow 4-4-2 system and that was the case last weekend against Barca with that unlikely to change. There remains concern that goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili could depart.
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Mamardashvili; Correia, Cristhian Mosquera, Gasiorowski, Jesus Vazquez; Rafa Mir, Pepelu, Javi Guerra, Diego Lopez; Almeida, Hugo Duro
UNAVAILABLE: Diakhaby (Injured), Jose Luis Gaya (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
CELTA VIGO VS VALENCIA PREDICTION
Despite the fact that Celta field a lot of defensive players in what would be forward positions, such as Oscar Mingueza at left wing-back, their opening game against Alaves produced quite a few chances for both sides. They will probably want to avoid a chaotic clash once again and Valencia, as mentioned, are generally pragmatic, despite actually cramming quite a lot of attackers into the side. Both sides should regress to more of a mean with a low-scoring encounter in the second game of the season.
CELTA VIGO VS VALENCIA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
