Celta Vigo will be bidding to make it back-to-back wins in Spain's top flight when they continue their 2023-24 campaign at home to Mallorca on Saturday afternoon.
The Sky Blues recorded a 3-2 win over Almeria ahead of the international break, while Mallorca played out a goalless draw with Athletic Bilbao in their last game in La Liga.
Match preview
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Celta only picked up one point from their first three league games of the season, losing at home to both Osasuna and Real Madrid, in addition to drawing away to Real Sociedad.
The Sky Blues managed to secure their first three points since Rafael Benitez's arrival as head coach before the international break, though, as they won 3-2 at Almeria.
Celta led 2-0 at the Power Horse Stadium before Almeria fought back to level the scores, but Williot Swedberg came up with the game's winning goal in the 87th minute to secure all three points for the visitors.
Benitez's team are currently 13th in the table on four points, and they will now be aiming to secure a second league win of the season ahead of a trip to the champions Barcelona on September 23.
Celta finished 13th in La Liga last season, which followed final positions of eighth and 11th, and they are currently present in their 12th straight campaign at this level.
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Mallorca, meanwhile, impressed in Spain's top flight last season, finishing ninth, which proved to be their highest final spot in La Liga for more than 10 years.
Javier Aguirre's side have made an underwhelming start to the 2023-24 campaign, though, only picking up two points from their first four matches, which has left them down in 17th position in the table.
Mallorca began their season with a 1-1 draw against Las Palmas before suffering back-to-back losses to Villarreal and Granada, but the draw with Athletic last time out was a step in the right direction.
The Pirates did the league double over Celta last season, winning 1-0 home and away, while they have only lost one of their last eight top-flight games with their opponents this weekend.
Mallorca will be hoping that the goalless draw with Athletic and international break can be used as a springboard to rise up the table in the coming weeks.
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Team News
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Celta have two players on the sidelines for this match, with Franco Cervi and Carles Perez both missing due to muscular problems, but the home side are otherwise in good shape.
Joseph Aidoo was only a second-half substitute against Almeria last time out but is likely to return to the XI here, while Swedberg is set to remain on the bench despite his winner at the Power Horse Stadium.
Head coach Benitez could stick with a 5-4-1 formation, which would see Iago Aspas, who is yet to find the back of the net this season, lead the line.
Mallorca, meanwhile, only have one first-team player in the treatment room, with Antonio Raillo missing once again due to an ankle issue.
Aguirre could select the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle against Athletic last time out, with Cyle Larin again featuring alongside Vedat Muriqi in the final third.
Jaume Costa, Manu Morlanes and Abdon Prats are among the options for change, but unless there are any late fitness setbacks, it might be a case of same again in terms of team selection for the visitors here.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Mingueza, Nunez, Starfelt, Aidoo, M Sanchez; Larsen, Beltran, De la Torre, Bamba; Aspas
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Maffeo, Gonzalez, Valjent, Van der Hayden, Lato; D Rodriguez, Costa, Darder; Larin, Muriqi
We say: Celta Vigo 1-1 Mallorca
There has only been one draw in the last five La Liga meetings between these two sides, but we are predicting the points to be shared on Saturday. Mallorca's first win of the season will come sooner or later, but Celta are certainly good enough to avoid defeat in front of their own supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
