Celta Vigo will be looking to move off the bottom of the La Liga table when they welcome high-flying Granada to the Balaidos on Sunday.
A disappointing start to the season has left Celta in 20th spot on seven points, but Granada have impressed in their opening nine matches, picking up 14 points to occupy sixth position in the table.
Match preview
© Reuters
Celta are currently playing in their ninth straight season at this level of football, and they actually finished ninth, eighth and sixth respectively in Spain's top flight between 2013 and 2016.
The team's last two campaigns have been a struggle, though, finishing 17th on both occasions, only avoiding relegation to the second tier by a single point last season.
In Iago Aspas, Celta still have a player full of goals, with the Spaniard managing five in the league this term, but a disappointing return of seven points from 10 matches has left them rooted to the foot of the table.
Celta, who suffered a 4-2 defeat at Sevilla last time out, are only two points from the safety of 17th position, but the fact that they have only managed one La Liga win this season will be a concern, even with a lot of football still to play in the coming months.
© Reuters
Granada will also enter the match off the back of a disappointing result, having suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Real Valladolid last weekend, which followed a 2-0 loss at Real Sociedad before the international break.
Diego Martinez's side were victorious in the Europa League on Thursday night, though, recording a 2-1 victory over Omonia Nicosia to leave themselves in a strong position to reach the round of 32.
Granada's last two league results have been disappointing, but it has still been a strong start to the season for El Grana, who are sixth in the table with 14 points to show from their nine matches.
Martinez's team are only three points behind fourth-placed Real Madrid and will fancy their chances of triumphing this weekend against a struggling Celta outfit.
Granada recorded a 2-0 victory in the corresponding game during the 2019-20 campaign, but they have actually lost four of their last six games with Celta in Spain's top flight.
Celta Vigo La Liga form: LLDLDL
Granada La Liga form: DWWDLL
Granada form (all competitions): DDWLLW
Team News
© Reuters
Celta will be without the services of Joseph Aidoo, Sergio Alvarez and Emre Mor through injury this weekend, while Kevin Vazquez could again miss out due to a calf problem.
Aidoo's absence is expected to open the door for Nestor Araujo to start in the middle of the defence, but Eduardo Coudet is expected to stick with the majority of the XI that started against Sevilla last weekend.
Aspas is certain to feature in the final third of the field, while Nolito, Denis Suarez and Santi Mina could all be included as the home side go in search of what would be a hugely important win.
As for Granada, Angel Montoro, Kenedy, Victor Diaz, Quini and Neyder Lozano remain on the sidelines, while Ramon Azeez is still a doubt due to a thigh issue.
Martinez is expected to make changes from Thursday's Europa League clash, with Darwin Machis, Antonio Puertas and Jorge Molina all in line for starts in attacking positions.
The visitors are unlikely to change their midfield, though, with Luis Milla again expected to line up alongside Yangel Herrera and Maxime Gonalons in the middle of the park.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Blanco; Mallo, Araujo, Murillo, Olaza; Suarez, Tapia, Mendez; Nolito; Mina, Aspas
Granada possible starting lineup:
Silva; Foulquier, Sanchez, Duarte, Neva; Herrera, Gonalons, Milla; Puertas, Molina, Machis
We say: Celta Vigo 1-1 Granada
Celta will certainly be the fresher of the two teams, while there were some positives in their defeat at Sevilla last weekend. Granada will be desperate to recover from back-to-back defeats, though, and we are struggling to separate the two teams here, ultimately backing a low-scoring draw.
Top betting tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Granada win with a probability of 35.75%. A win for Celta Vigo had a probability of 35.6% and a draw had a probability of 28.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Granada win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.78%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.55%) and 0-2 (6.68%). The likeliest Celta Vigo win was 1-0 (11.75%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.31%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood.
