Celta Vigo will seal Europa League qualification if they can beat Rayo Vallecano at Balaidos on Sunday in La Liga.
That would cap a brilliant season for Claudio Giraldez and his team. The Celta boss has revolutionised this club, by promoting a large number of his former B-team players into the first-team fold this season, and he is really reaping the rewards.
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Celta have won three out of their last four to move clear of their main rivals in the race for the final European places. One of those sides is Rayo Vallecano who currently find themselves four points back in the Conference League position.
The visitors have little breathing space though, with a number of teams just below them, so there is pressure on Inigo Perez’s men to come to Balaidos and get something from the game. They’re in decent form, with seven points from their last three matches, although Rayo could only draw on Thursday in Vallecas, despite taking a 2-0 lead against Real Betis.
How the bookies view it: Celta backed to seal European football
The home team are the 8/11 favourites for this game. The visitors are priced at 14/5 to claim what would be a priceless three points in their pursuit of continental action next term, while the draw is available at 11/4.
Recent head-to-head: Rayo targeting league double
Jorge de Frutos netted the winner in a 2-1 Rayo win when the sides met in Madrid back in January. The recent meetings have tended to produce few goals overall, although Celta have been a lot more attacking since Giraldez took charge last year, and the expectation is that we could see a relatively open game here.
Players to watch: Aspas to rotate in?
The Celta boss frequently rotates heavily, and that certainly looks likely to be the case again here following a midweek fixture. That could mean a start for Celta’s veteran forward Iago Aspas. The 37-year-old has still chipped in with nine goals and four assists this term, despite only starting 50% of his team’s games in La Liga.
Predicted Lineups
Celta are in pretty good shape on the selection front, although they are still likely to be without defenders Jailson and Carl Starfelt.
We may also see the visitors freshen things up with some changes. They are missing centre-back Abdul Mumin to injury, while forward Sergio Camello is a major doubt.
Celta Vigo: Guaita, Alonso, Lago, J. Rodriguez, Mingueza, Sotelo, D. Rodriguez, Alvarez, Swedberg, Aspas, Duran.
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla, Chavarria, A. Hernandez, Lejeune, Ratiu, U. Lopez, Valentin, Embarba, I. Palazon, De Frutos, A. Garcia.
Anything else catch the eye?
Celta Vigo have been a really good watch this season, with their league games averaging 3.06 goals per game. With Rayo potentially needing to win this game to cling onto a European place, this should be relatively open too, and you can back there to be over 2.5 goals at 7/10 with Boylesports.
With the same bookmaker, you can also back Celta to score over 1.5 goals at 8/11, a winning bet in 56% of league matches at Balaidos this term.
Rayo do tend to win plenty of corners when they play away though, with 5.06 per game on average on their travels in La Liga this term. They are priced at 6/4 to win over 4.5 corners in this game.
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