Sports Mole previews Saturday’s La Liga clash between Espanyol and Celta Vigo, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Celta Vigo will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten of form in all competitions to five matches when they head to RCDE Stadium on Saturday evening to tackle Espanyol in Spain’s top flight.
The visitors are currently 11th in the La Liga table, boasting 18 points from their opening 14 matches of the season, while Espanyol are 19th, picking up only 10 points from their first 13 games.
Match preview
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Espanyol boast a record of three wins, one draw and nine defeats from their 13 league matches this season, which has left them in 19th spot in the table on 10 points, just one point ahead of basement side Real Valladolid.
The Catalan side have struggled defensively this term, conceding 26 times, with only Real Valladolid (27) letting in more goals at this stage of the campaign, and the early signs are that they will be in a relegation battle this term.
Espanyol are on a four-game losing run in Spain’s top flight, suffering defeats to Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Barcelona and Girona since beating Mallorca 2-1 on home soil at the start of October.
The White and Blues secured promotion back to La Liga through the 2023-24 Segunda Division playoffs, and they have found it difficult to get going in the early stages of this season, losing seven of their last eight games at this level.
Espanyol will enter this clash off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Girona, while they suffered a 2-0 loss to Sevilla in their last match in front of their own supporters at the end of October.
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Celta, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with Barcelona, and it was an incredible comeback from the Sky Blues in the latter stages of their clash with the division leaders.
Claudio Giraldez‘s side were 2-0 down heading into the final exchanges, but Alfon Gonzalez halved the deficit in the 84th minute before Hugo Alvarez made it 2-2 less than two minutes later, with the points ultimately being shared.
Celta are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions, including a 1-0 success over Getafe in La Liga, while they sit up in 11th spot in the table, picking up 18 points from their opening 14 matches.
The Sky Blues are only four points behind sixth-placed Osasuna, while they have been one of the most entertaining sides to watch in La Liga this term, scoring 22 times in their 14 matches but also conceding 24.
Celta have only lost once to Espanyol in La Liga since September 2017, and they recorded a 3-1 victory when the two sides last locked horns at the start of 2023.
Espanyol La Liga form:
Espanyol form (all competitions):
Celta Vigo La Liga form:
Celta Vigo form (all competitions):
Team News
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Espanyol will be without the services of three first-team players on Saturday through injury, with Jose Gragera, Fernando Calero and Edu Exposito on the treatment table.
Javi Puado has been Espanyol’s most productive player this season in terms of goals, finding the back of the net on five occasions, and the 26-year-old will again be in the XI, while on-loan Tottenham Hotspur attacker Alejo Veliz should lead the line.
Head coach Gonzalez is expected to make a change in midfield on Saturday, though, with Alvaro Aguado potentially being introduced in place of Rafel Bauza.
As for Celta, head coach Giraldez could name the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Barcelona.
Alfon Gonzalez is pushing for a start, having scored off the bench against the league leaders, but it seems likely that Jonathan Bamba will continue down the left, with Hugo Alvarez on the opposite side.
Iago Aspas has been in impressive form this season, scoring four times and registering three assists in 13 La Liga appearances, and he will again lead the line, but Jailson and Luca de la Torre will again miss out due to injury problems.
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
J Garcia; Tejero, El Hilali, S Gomez, Cabrera, Romero; Carreras, Aguado, Kral, Puado; Veliz
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Guaita; J Rodriguez, Starfelt, Alonso, Mingueza; Alvarez, Beltran, Moriba, Bamba; Douvikas, Aspas
We say: Espanyol 1-2 Celta Vigo
Celta have only won once on their travels in La Liga this term, but the Sky Blues have so much talent in the final third of the field, and we are backing them to record a narrow win over an out-of-form Espanyol outfit.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.