Will Sevilla get back on track?

Celta Vigo against Sevilla is a loser’s duel of the last matchday. However, while the home side have already conceded their fifth defeat in their eighth league match, the Andalusians’ defeat against Granada was a first for them. Despite the defeat, the visitors still occupy fourth place and are within striking distance of the trio at the top by just three points.

For the Galicians, instead, the battle to stay in the league is already looming at an early stage of the season. For the match at the Balaídos between Celta Vigo and Sevilla, the forecast includes less than three goals by the final whistle.

Celta Vigo – Statistics & current form

Celta finished eighth last season, their second best finish since being promoted back to La Liga in 2012, but are currently in much worse form again at the three-time La Liga 2 champions.

Although hope was raised by the first win of the season against Levante on the third-last matchday, which was subsequently fuelled by the success against Granada, the most recent defeat against their immediate neighbours in the table, Elche, has put the brakes on the upswing for the time being.

Attack is limited

One shortcoming this season is the harmless offensive: Less than one goal has been scored so far. This is mainly due to the fact that the eternal goal-scorer of the selection from the port city in the person of Iago Aspas is currently less accurate than usual.

The striker has always delivered a double-digit goal haul in the past six years with the Himmelblauen, but he is now experiencing a bit of a scoring drought. Aspas, who has also scored twice in the last three meetings with Sevilla, has only scored twice this season and there was initially no one in the squad who could step into the breach for him.

Now, however, Santi Mina is showing signs of an upturn in form. The 25-year-old has scored in two of the last five league games and added three goals for his team-mates on top of that.

Home bonus is not given

Once again, the “Celestes” cannot rely on a home advantage. The win in the last match on home soil against Granada was the first of the season, after the first three home games were lost across the board

Predicted line-up of Celta Vigo:
Dituro – Murillo – Araujo – Mallo – Tapia – Galan – Nolito – Beltran – Mendez – Mina – Aspas

Last matches played by Celta Vigo:

Sevilla – Statistics & current form

Sevilla was hit on the last matchday: As mentioned at the beginning, the first defeat of the season was recorded at Granada. Although they dominated the opponents, they were unable to score a goal despite their superior play. One reason for this was the absence of Youssef En Nesyri.

The Moroccan is otherwise the top scorer, but is currently absent due to an injury. Coach Julen Lopetegui cannot now safely assume that the attacker will be fit again for the match in the far north.

Nothing more than a goal for the visitors?

Nothing more than a short appearance is on the cards, especially as the top flight is on the agenda again next week and En-Nesyri may be given a rest in light of this. In view of this, the betting odds on a maximum of one goal by the Nervionenses in the match between Celta Vigo and Sevilla are also interesting.

Already in the last match in the Champions League, when En-Nesyri was absent due to a card suspension, the visitors’ attack struggled a lot during the visit of Wolfsburg. It was only shortly before the end of the game that the Wolves at least equalised.

Guests arrive with the best defence

Sevilla, however, will once again rely on his defence in the upcoming match: No team concedes fewer goals in the Spanish top flight than the 1946 champions, and while they will be without defender Diego Carlos due to a yellow card from their last match, this will do little to change the fundamental solidity of the Blanquirrojos’ backline, which has picked up a clean sheet in four of the seven league games they have played so far.

With this in mind, the odds on Celta Vigo against Sevilla are also value on the visitors going another game without conceding a goal.

Predicted Sevilla line-up:
Bono – Kounde – Montiel – Navas – Acuna – Rakitic – Fernando – Jordan – Lamela – Mir – Suos

Last matches played by Sevilla:

Celta Vigo – Sevilla Direct comparison / H2H balance

Sevilla won the last direct encounter 4:3 away from home last April. The visitors have two wins in a row in this pairing and the previous match was also high-scoring, with Lopetegui’s side winning 4-2.

However, if you look back a little further, you can see that, at least away from home, victories for the southern side have been few and far between at the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup winners: Only two of the past ten away games in the port city were won and half of them were lost (2-3-5).

Nevertheless, the betting odds on Celta Vigo against Sevilla are moderately favouring the visitors.

Celta Vigo – Sevilla Tip

Home coach Eduardo Coudet cannot be satisfied with his team’s performance so far. They have lost five of their eight league games and their top striker Aspas, who has scored no less than 103 goals in 198 league games over the past six seasons, is not at operating temperature at the moment.

The forecast for the clash between Celta Vigo and Sevilla is therefore a maximum of two goals. This is not only due to Celtiña’s poor offensive performance, but also to the visitors’ strong defence. Although Diego Carlos has to miss this one due to a card suspension, the backline of last year’s fourth-placed team can still be described as efficient:

They have only conceded three goals – best in La Liga. The prediction is supported by another statistic: none of the Rojiblancos’ four guest matches so far this season have ended with more than two goals! The probable absence of top striker En-Nesyri on SFC’s side also suggests a low-scoring match.