Mallorca vs Celta Vigo prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-01-12 15:15.
Victories against Sevilla (1-0) and Osasuna (3-2) in their last two La Liga (LL) home games have for now given Mallorca some breathing space above the bottom three in what has otherwise been a difficult season for head coach Javier Aguirre and his players. But an optimist could point to the fact that last week’s 1-0 loss at Real Madrid – which is never a result to be ashamed of – was their only defeat in their last eight competitive outings (W4, D3, L1).
That includes a pair of 3-0 Copa del Rey wins over fourth and second-tier opposition, and they’ll view the visit of another lower-ranked club in Celta Vigo as a chance to increase their three-point buffer to the relegation zone. Doing so would be another marker of their progress, as slowly but surely, Aguirre’s men appear to be returning to the sort of form that secured them a comfortable mid-table spot last term.
It’s an ominous sign for Celta, who were the only team to lose to Mallorca in the opening 15 rounds of this La Liga campaign. Just like their hosts, Rafael BenĂtez’s side picked up only one victory after 15 league encounters – albeit in a second-half struggle against winless AlmerĂa (3-2) – and they too have since kickstarted their fight for survival with a pair of successive home triumphs heading into Saturday.
But Celta have suffered 1–0 defeats in each of their last three meetings with Mallorca across all venues and have only conquered AlmerĂa on the road in the league in 2023/24 (D3, L5). Their spirit and fight cannot be questioned however, with all five of those losses by a single-goal margin, so a fourth straight H2H 1-0 defeat certainly cannot be ruled out!
Players to watch: Dani RodrĂguez has given Mallorca the lead at home on two separate occasions this season and he did so in this corresponding fixture in 2022/23. A happy traveller, Celta’s Jørgen Strand Larsen has scored in four LL away matches (W1, L3) this term.
Hot stat: Just four of the last 18 LL games involving either club have produced over 2.5 total goals.