Celta de Vigo will take on Valencia on Friday night in what will be Vigo's second consecutive home match of the new La Liga season.
The hosts come into the match as the league leaders following their opening day 2-1 victory over Alaves while Valencia are in the bottom three after their loss by the same scoreline to Barcelona.
Starting off the season with two losses would be a disaster for Rubén Baraja's men, especially after five consecutive seasons in the wilderness in La Liga.
How the bookies view it: A tough match to call
Celta de Vigo come into the match as the favourites with the bookies, thanks in large to their impressive performance against Alaves last weekend. Betfred have priced the hosts at 6/5 to win the match while a win for Valencia has been priced at 12/5. The draw, which wouldn't be the worst result in the world for both clubs, has been priced at 9/4.
Recent head-to-head: Promising signs for Valencia
One reason why Celta de Vigo aren't priced shorter for this match will be to do with their recent record against Valencia. They have failed to win any of their last seven leagues matches against Valencia with their last league win in this fixture coming back in 2020. Vigo have tasted cup success more recently than that, though, thanks to a 3-1 away win against Valencia last season.
Players to watch: Experience vs youth at one end of the pitch
This match could be decided by how Celta de Vigo legend, Iago Aspas, fares against highly-rated Valencia defender, Cristhian Mosquera.
Across two spells at Celta de Vigo, Aspas has scored more than 180 league goals and despite being 37 years old, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down just yet. Aspas netted nine times and provided ten assists in La Liga last season and was still playing for the national team in Euro 2024 qualifiers earlier this year.
He has started the current season with a goal in Vigo's opening-day win over Alaves but will face a tough test against Mosquera on Friday night. The 20-year-old centre-back enjoyed a breakthrough season at Valencia last year and there is a feeling a big move could be on the horizon next summer if he performs to a similar level this time around.
Predicted line-ups
Although Celta de Vigo won their opening fixture, changes to the team are expected as it was half-time substitutions that flipped the game on its head.
Valencia are still without the same five players that missed the match against Barcelona, including Sergi Canos and Jose Gaya, and are expected to stick with the same ten outfield players. There could be a change in goal as Giorgi Mamardashvili edges closer to a transfer to Liverpool. Whether he then returns to Valencia on loan remains to be seen.
Celta de Vigo: Villar – J.Rodriguez, Garcia, Dominguez, Mingueza – D.Roriguez, Alvarez, Swedberg – Bamba, Aspas, Iglesias
Valencia: Dimitrievski – Correia, Mosquera, Gasiorowski, Vazquez – Pepelu, Mir, Guerra, D Lopez – Duro, Almeida
Anything else catch the eye?
Both teams were involved in matches that finished 2-1 last weekend while four of the last five matches between the two clubs have seen more than two goals scored. Over 2.5 goals to be scored on Friday has been priced at 6/5 with Betfred which feels long.
This La Liga match between Celta de Vigo and Valencia will be played on Aug 23, 2024 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Celta de Vigo vs Valencia prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
