Celta Vigo vs Rayo Vallecano Preview: Team News & Prediction
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It may not feature two of the biggest teams in Spain but Celta Vigo and Rayo Vallecano play some of the most enjoyable styles of football in La Liga and now they meet at Balaidos.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / US – ESPN have the exclusive rights to La Liga games in the USA, so any game may be televised on one of their affiliated channels
How to watch online: UK – Premier Player / US – ESPN+
Celta Vigo preview: Silky Celta
Coached by Claudio Giraldez, Celta have been magnificent for about 18 months or so now and they are managing to balance their impressive domestic form alongside exploits in the UEFA Europa League too.
The Galicians have returned from La Liga’s mini winter break in fine form. After hammering Valencia by four goals to one a couple of weeks ago, Marcos Alonso’s late penalty earned them a 1-0 victory away at Sevilla in their most recent outing.
Rayo Vallecano preview: Intense Rayo
Unlike Celta, Rayo are finding it a bit tougher to deal with domestic and European commitments, though that is understandable given the chaotic nature of the way in which the club is run off the pitch, the small squad that they possess and the admirable intensity to which they play.
That said, they suffered just their second defeat in eight matches across all competitions in midweek as they suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of Deportivo Alaves in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, a few days after beating Real Mallorca in La Liga with ten men.
Celta Vigo team news: Couple of doubts
Celta Vigo are dealing with a couple of injury doubts this weekend as versatile defender Carlos Dominguez is potentially sidelined alongside left-back Mihailo Ristic.
Predicted XI (3-4-3): Radu; Javi Rodriguez, Starfelt, Marcos Alonso; El Abdellaoui, Ilaix Moriba, Hugo Alvarez, Oscar Mingueza; Bryan Zaragoza, Borja Iglesias, Iago Aspas
Unavailable:
Questionable: Ristic (Injured), Carlos Dominguez (Injured)
Rayo Vallecano team news: Oscar Valentin suspended
Rayo Vallecano midfielder Oscar Valentin is missing through suspension this weekend, while defenders Luiz Felipe and Abdul Mumin remain injury absentees, too.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Augusto Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mendy, Pep Chavarria; Pablo Diaz, Gerard Gumbau; Jorge de Frutos, Isi Palazon, Alvaro Garcia; Nteka
Unavailable: Luiz Felipe (Injured), Mumin (Injured), Oscar Valentin (Suspended)
Questionable: Ratiu (Injured), Unai Lopez (Injured)
Celta Vigo vs Rayo Vallecano prediction
Rayo have quite a few talented options in the final third but the need for precision is paramount due to the way in which they swarm and overwhelm so when one or two pieces of the puzzle are missing things can get disrupted as a result, Celta should come out on top but Rayo won’t make it an easy home win.
Celta Vigo vs Rayo Vallecano tip: Celta Vigo to win & both teams to score
