Two teams battling for European qualification will lock horns when Celta Vigo welcome Rayo Vallecano to Balaidos on Sunday.
The hosts occupy seventh place in the standings after collecting 52 points from 36 matches, while the visitors are four points adrift in eighth position.
Match preview
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Celta are on the brink of securing a top-seven finish for the first time since 2015-16 after winning three of their previous four matches.
The Galician side recorded home victories against Villarreal and Sevilla, either side of a narrow defeat to Real Madrid, before they edged out Real Sociedad via a 1-0 scoreline in Tuesday’s meeting at the Reale Arena.
Alfon Gonzalez scored his fifth league goal of the season to clinch Celta’s third win in five away games, ensuring they will enter the penultimate matchday of the season with a four-point gap to Rayo and Osasuna.
Claudio Giraldez‘s side will enter Sunday’s contest with hopes of recording three consecutive La Liga victories for the first time since May 2021, and such a result would guarantee Europa League qualification with one game left to play.
Los Celestes will draw inspiration from the fact that they boast the league’s fifth-best home record, having won 11, drawn three and lost four of their 18 La Liga matches at Balaidos this season.
They have also avoided defeat in each of their previous six home meetings with Rayo (W4, D2), recording clean sheets in each of their last three home encounters.
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Rayo may still be harbouring hopes of clinching Europa League qualification ahead of Celta, but their main priority will be to hold off the competition for eighth place as they look to end their 24-year wait for European football.
Inigo Perez‘s charges may be in the Conference League qualification spot, but they will be wary that Osasuna are just outside the top eight with the same points tally, while Mallorca and Valencia are one and three points behind in ninth and tenth place respectively.
After taking just one point from three games in April, Rayo got their European bid back on track with consecutive 1-0 victories against Getafe and Las Palmas.
They appeared to be on course to claim a third successive win when Jorge de Frutos and Florian Lejeune grabbed a goal apiece to establish a two-goal lead at half time of Thursday’s home clash against Real Betis, only for Cucho Hernandez and Isco to find the net in the second half to deny Rayo all three points.
Rayo will have to quickly recover from Thursday’s draw as they travel to Balaidos with aspirations of claiming their first away win over Celta since recording a 2-0 victory in November 2013.
The visitors are bidding to complete a league double over Sunday’s opponents after clinching a 2-1 victory in January’s reverse fixture.
Team News
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Celta defender Carl Starfelt will remain unavailable for the final two games of the season after he sustained a hamstring injury last month.
Brazilian midfielder Jailson is also unlikely to feature in the matchday squad, having sat out the last two matches with a knee problem.
Marcos Alonso is set to return to the starting lineup after serving a one-match ban for his dismissal in last Saturday’s win over Sevilla.
As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Abdul Mumin and Jonathan Montiel due to knee and quad injuries respectively.
Forward Sergio Camello was left out of Thursday’s squad due to an injury problem, making him an obvious doubt for Sunday’s away trip.
Randy Nteka will, at the very least, provide Perez with a useful option off the bench after he returned to the matchday squad in midweek following a three-game injury absence.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Rodriguez, Lago, Alonso; Mingueza, Moriba, Sotelo, Alvarez; Aspas, Alfon, Duran
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Balliu, Lejeune, Aridane, Chavarria; Ciss, Diaz; Ratiu, Palazon, De Frutos; Garcia
We say: Celta Vigo 3-1 Rayo Vallecano
Celta have won eight of their previous 12 league matches at Balaidos, and we think they will make full use of home advantage once again to get the better of a Rayo side that have lost four of their previous six La Liga away games.
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