Celta Vigo will look to claim their second win of the La Liga season when they welcome newly-promoted Alaves to Balaidos on Thursday.
The hosts travel to Galicia with hopes of picking up their first away points of the season after losing all of their opening three away matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, Celta Vigo brought in the experienced Rafael Benitez over the summer with the aim of overseeing an upturn in fortunes.
Unfortunately for Benitez and Celta, the opening stages of the 2023-24 campaign have been underwhelming, with their first six games producing just one win, one draw and four defeats.
They were seemingly on course to receive a much-need boost after taking a surprise 2-0 lead in Saturday's away trip to Barcelona courtesy of strikes from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Anastasios Douvikas, but a dramatic fightback in the final 10 minutes saw the champions turn the contest completely on its head.
Robert Lewandowski pulled Barcelona level with a brace, before Manchester City loanee Joao Cancelo won the game in the 89th minute to condemn Celta to a second straight defeat which leaves them in the relegation zone ahead of Thursday's home clash with Alaves.
A return to Balaidos may not provide Celta with the comfort that they need, having lost all three of their opening home matches without finding the net, ensuring that they are the only La Liga team yet to pick up a point on home turf this season.
© Reuters
Alaves, who earned promotion via the Segunda Division playoffs, head into the midweek round of fixtures in 14th position with six points to their name from as many matches.
They picked up all of those points in their first two home matches, beating Sevilla in a seven-goal thriller, before edging out Valencia earlier this month.
Luis Garcia's side have been unable to build upon their 1-0 win over Los Che, having lost both of their last two matches against Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Bilbao via a 2-0 scoreline.
Alaves will now head on their travels, where they are winless in 18 top-flight away games (D3, L15) since beating Cadiz 2-0 in October 2021, while their last nine away matches in La Liga have all resulted in defeats.
Not only will they be aiming to end their poor away form, they will also be looking to improve their recent head-to-head record against Celta Vigo, having lost their previous six meetings since winning 2-0 in a home fixture in October 2019.
Team News
© Reuters
Benitez is still unable to call upon Franco Cervi, who has missed Celta Vigo's last three matches with a muscular injury.
Despite giving up a two-goal lead against Barcelona, Benitez is likely to stick with the same lineup that started Saturday's defeat.
After coming off the bench to score his first Celta Vigo goal at the weekend, Douvikas is expected to have a role to play at some point in the contest.
As for the visitors, Atletico Madrid loanee Giuliano Simeone remains sidelined, while Antonio Blanco is a doubt after missing the defeat to Athletic Bilbao.
There are also concerns over the availability of defender Ruben Duarte, who was forced off in the second half of Friday's defeat.
Javi Lopez will slot into the left side of defence if Duarte is unable to feature, and there could also be starting berths for Jon Guridi and Samu Omorodion.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Nunez, Starfelt, Dominguez; Mingueza, Beltran, De La Torre, Ristic; Larsen, Bamba, Aspas
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Sivera; Gorosabel, Abqar, Sedlar, Lopez; Benavidez, Guevara; Sola, Guridi, Riojo; Omorodion
We say: Celta Vigo 2-1 Alaves
Thursday's encounter pits a team that has struggled on home turf against a side that has lost their last nine La Liga away matches.
While hopes of a victory may be slim in both camps, recent history suggests that Celta Vigo may have the edge after winning their previous five meetings with Alaves, which is why we think that the hosts may sneak over the line to claim three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
