REMEMBER Terry Gibson? Well, we've signed him and while he won't be kicking a football he'll be looking into his crystal ball and bringing us his best Spanish tips every week.
The ex-Spurs, Coventry and Manchester United striker is probably best remembered for his time as part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang side of the late 80s and early 90s. Now an expert in all things La Liga he works as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage and is a contributor to unibet.
Here he previews the Copa Del Rey Final plus a La Liga clash.
Celta Vigo v Valencia (Sat 3.15pm)
It will be interesting to see the response of Valencia to losing at home in midweek to Getafe. That wasn’t altogether a massive surprise as Getafe have had an outstanding season.
Maybe a little bit of motivation was lacking in Valencia’s performance as they are assured of a top four finish, and with the new qualification process assured of automatic qualification in the Champions League group stages.
Celta do have an outside chance of making ground up on the Europa League spot but it’s going to take some doing to make up the four-point deficit on Sevilla. I’m going to predict another draw in this one for Celta.
There’s nothing really between these two so I’m going for a 2-2 draw. Maxi Gomez showed signs of getting back to his early season scoring form against Barcelona so I’m selecting him as first scorer.
Terry's Tips
- Celta 2, Valencia 2 (21-2, Unibet)
- Maxi Gomez to score first (21-4, Unibet)
- Both teams to score (31-50, Unibet)
Barcelona v Sevilla (Copa Del Rey Final, Sat 8.30pm)
Due to their current predicament in chasing a Europa League place, Sevilla coach Vincenzo Montella wasn’t afforded the luxury of being able to rest too many players in the midweek fixture at Deportivo la Coruńa. They drew 0-0 which wasn’t the ideal outcome.
Ernesto Valverde on the other hand had the chance to rest probably 10 players from the likely line-up for Saturday evening in the 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo. It’s been a while since the elite Barcelona players had the chance to rest during the midweek period and I firmly believe, if I didn’t already, that it will give Barcelona another advantage going into this cup final.
Without the added advantage of resting players I still would have plumped for a Barcelona win. Let’s not forget Sevilla have also been piling in the fixtures with an elimination at the same stage of the Champions League.
Sevilla’s unpredictability and inconsistency make it slightly harder to call than you would imagine but I’m basing my prediction mainly on the difference between the two teams at the top end of the pitch.
Sevilla can create but don’t take a high enough percentage of the chances made. Barcelona on the other hand do. Messi and Suarez were both rested at Celta, although Messi did come on for 30 minutes, and I’m expecting them to be decisive in this game.
Suarez missed last season’s final against Alavés and his replacement Paco Alcacer made the most of the opportunity in scoring the 3rd goal in a 3-1 victory. Barcelona place huge stock in winning this trophy and if they do so again this will make it the 4th consecutive success.
It’s hard to look beyond another Barcelona win and that’s exactly what I’m going for. Sevilla can be decent and it will be competitive but I’m banking on Messi to light the game up and I’m going for a 3-1 Barcelona victory and for Luis Suarez to open the scoring.
Terry's Tips
- Barca 3, Sevilla 1 (17-2, Unibet)
- Suarez to score first (31-10, Unibet)
- Barca win (4-9, Unibet)
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An ex-Tottenham, Coventry and Manchester United striker, Terry is probably best remembered for his time as part of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang side of the late 80s and early 90s. Now an expert in all things La Liga, he works as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports’ Spanish football coverage.
