Preview: Celta Vigo vs Alaves - prediction, team news, lineups

Celta Vigo will be bidding to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they welcome Alaves to Balaidos Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Sky Blues are sixth in the La Liga table, three points ahead of seventh-placed Real Sociedad, while Alaves are 17th, two points outside of the relegation zone.

Match preview

Celta will enter Sunday's clash off the back of a 2-0 win over Lyon in the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie, with the result securing a 3-1 aggregate success, and the Sky Blues will now take on Freiburg in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Claudio Giraldez's side are sixth in the La Liga table, boasting a record of 10 wins, 11 draws and seven defeats from their 28 matches this season, collecting 41 points, which has left them three points ahead of seventh-placed Real Sociedad.

Celta drew 1-1 with Real Betis in their last match in Spain's top flight, but their last league game on home soil ended in a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

Giraldez's team have actually been disappointing on home soil this season, only picking up 17 points from their 14 league matches in front of their own fans, but Alaves have the fourth-worst record on their travels in 2025-26.

Celta recorded a 1-0 win over Alaves in the reverse match earlier this season, while it was 2-1 to the Sky Blues in the corresponding clash last term.

Alaves have won 21 of their previous 63 matches against Celta in all competitions, suffering 27 defeats in the process, while there have also been 15 draws.

The visitors will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Villarreal, with that result following back-to-back defeats to Levante and Valencia.

There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough campaign for the Blue and Whites, with a record of seven wins, seven draws and 14 defeats from 28 matches seeing them collect 28 points, which has left them down in 17th spot in the division.

Alaves appointed Quique Sanchez Flores as their new head coach at the start of March, and the Spaniard has picked up one point from his two games at the helm.

El Glorioso are only two points ahead of 18th-placed Elche in the battle to remain in the division, but they will be the fresher of the two teams entering this weekend's match.

Celta Vigo La Liga form:

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Celta Vigo form (all competitions):

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Alaves La Liga form:

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Team News

Celta will be without the services of Miguel Roman through injury, with the 23-year-old likely to miss the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.

Meanwhile, Ilaix Moriba is out of the contest through suspension, with the midfielder picking up a milestone yellow card in the team's clash with Real Betis last time out.

Borja Iglesias, who has been named in the latest Spain squad, will lead the line, and the striker will be bidding to add to the 15 goals that he has scored this season.

As for Alaves, Carlos Protesoni is an injury doubt, with the 27-year-old facing a late fitness test ahead of the contest on Sunday.

Youssef Enriquez is out of the match through suspension, having picked up a milestone yellow card in the team's draw with Villarreal last time out.

However, Jon Pacheco and Ander Guevara will return to the squad after serving suspensions, and the former is set to feature in the starting side.

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Radu; Alonso, Starfelt, Rodriguez; Nunez, Mingueza, Sotelo, Alvarez; Aspas, Iglesias, Jutgla

Alaves possible starting lineup:

Sivera; Tenaglia, Parada, Pacheco; Perez, Ibanez, Blanco, Alena, Jonny; Martinez, Boye

We say: Celta Vigo 2-1 Alaves

Celta were involved in an energy-zapping European game on Thursday night, so that will boost Alaves' chances of picking up a positive result here, but we are expecting the home side to navigate their way to a vital win.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.