Valencia vs Celta Vigo Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Valencia need a reset on and off the pitch as they take on a strong and entertaining but perhaps refreshed Celta Vigo side at Mestalla in their opening game.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Premier Sports / USA – 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 / USA – ESPN+
Valencia preview: Still with the Lim’s
Peter Lim remains the owner of Valencia with son Kiat Lim in place as chairman, Valencia remain a club that are way below where they should be with supporters continuing to protest without much success.
Over the summer, Los Che have stood by former West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan in the dugout. They have brought in Justin de Haas from Famalicao as well as Ryunosuke Sato and Aliou Dieng from Tokyo and Al Ahly, respectively.
Celta Vigo preview: A false start
Celta Vigo managed to hold on to qualify for the UEFA Europa League last season despite some very average form in the latter part of the campaign, with Claudio Giraldez needing to rediscover the brilliance of his first couple of years in charge.
The Galicians were due to kick off their campaign against Osasuna last week but their match at Balaidos was postponed due to issues with the pitch and so Celta, ready to go a week ago, should be well set for their trip down to Valencia this weekend.
Valencia team news: Attacking injuries
Attacking trio Luis Rioja, Alberto Mari and Umar Sadiq have all picked up injuries in pre-season and are now set to be sidelined alongside fellow attackers Sergi Canos and Diego Lopez.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Dimitrievski; De Haas, Cesar Tarrega, Diakhaby, Jose Luis Gaya; Almeida, Javi Guerra, Rodriguez, Pepelu; Hugo Duro, Danjuma
Unavailable: Copete (Injured), Sergi Canos (Injured), Diego Lopez (Injured)
Questionable: Foulquier (Injured), Luis Rioja (Injured), Alberto Mari (Injured), Sadiq (Injured)
Celta Vigo team news: Delay may have helped
The extra delay to the start of their season may well have helped Celta here as left-back Javi Galan and defensive midfielder Matias Vecino work their way back, while young attacker Pablo Duran remains sidelined.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Bayindir; Carlos Dominguez, Faye, Marcos Alonso; Sergio Carreira, Miguel Roman, Ilaix Moriba, Javi Galan; Swedberg, Aleix Febas; Borja Iglesias
Unavailable: Pablo Duran (Injured)
Questionable: Javi Galan (Injured), Matias Vecino (Injured)
Valencia vs Celta Vigo prediction
Home advantage on the opening day of the season should aid Carlos Corberan and his Valencia side. The Valencians are expected to take the game to Celta from the off and Celta’s own aggression and intensity, as well as their ability on the counter-attack, should produce quite an entertaining watch for the neutral at Mestalla with both teams scoring seeming a decent bet.
Valencia vs Celta Vigo tip: Both teams to score
