Celta Vigo vs Ath Bilbao prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2024-05-14 20:00.
[p]While a 1-0 defeat against Atlético Madrid at the weekend was undeniably disappointing, Celta Vigo still retain a five-point cushion to the drop zone. They could mathematically secure their top-flight status for next season with a win in midweek should Cádiz fail to win away at Sevilla prior to this game, while simply bettering Cádiz’s result would likely be enough given their vastly superior goal difference. [/p]
[p]Recent history would suggest Celta will bounce back from their weekend disappointment with a victory here, as prior to their Atlético loss, their three prior La Liga defeats have been immediately followed up by a league win. Running into Athletic Bilbao seems to throw their chances of building that run into jeopardy, as Celta have won just three of their last 14 La Liga home H2Hs (D4, L7), with ten of those games seeing two or fewer total match goals. [/p]
[p]Athletic were left cursing Celta at the weekend, with their failure to hold Atlético coupled with their own 2-2 draw against Osasuna realistically consigning them to the Europa League next season. Although disappointing, a draw could be seen as a good result for an Athletic side who were 2-0 down at one point, and conceding the opener is becoming a running theme for a side who’ve now done so in three of their last four league games. [/p]
[p]An injury crisis in defence can perhaps be blamed for that, but even with a selection headache, boss Ernesto Valverde should still be confident of claiming a result. That’s because Athletic have incredibly not lost a league game this season against a side starting this midweek round lower than eighth (W13, D8), and with each of their three remaining games this season coming against sides who currently fall in that category, they’ll hope to end the season on a high. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Any Celta success perhaps hinges on Iago Aspas performing as he’s netted in three of their last four home league wins, scoring in the first half on each occasion. Athletic’s Iñaki Williams scored in his last away H2H, while all four of his career goals against Celta arrived before the hour mark. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Celta are the only La Liga side not to have scored a home league goal before the 15th minute this season. [/p]