Real Sociedad vs Celta Vigo prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2025-05-12 18:00.
[p]Real Sociedad’s European prospects took a hammer blow as they fell to a fifth straight winless La Liga outing over the weekend (D2, L3), leaving them with just three games to close a four-point gap to the top eight. Not since January 2022 have Sociedad endured a longer wait for a league win, and bucking that trend now is crucial if they’re to extend their run of five straight European seasons.[/p]
[p]After announcing his decision not to renew his contract ahead of last weekend, La Liga’s second longest-serving current coach, Imanol Alguacil, enters his penultimate home game in charge. Welcoming Celta Vigo to San Sebastián may be a bonus for the outgoing boss, who has beaten only two sides more often on the touchline than the Galician club (W8, D2, L3), yet the last two at home both ended 1-1. [/p]
[p]Just two points inside the European places, Celta know that avoiding defeat here will be key in maintaining their push for a first UEFA competition involvement since 2016/17. Those hopes took a boost with a 3-2 win at home to Sevilla on Saturday, but with two of their final three league outings coming on the road, they still have plenty of work to do if they’re to remain in the top eight. [/p]
[p]Hitting the road is particularly concerning for Claudio Giráldez’s side, who have picked up just 27% of their points away from home and have the largest difference between points per game at home (2.00) and away (0.76) in La Liga. Despite their failings, Celta are reliably on the scoresheet away from home, finding the net in 11 of their last 12 La Liga road trips.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Takefusa Kubo could be the key to ending Sociedad’s winless run as the Japanese winger has only scored in victories this season (W7), including five decisive strikes. Celta’s Iago Aspas has played against no side more often than Sociedad (26 appearances), with the veteran striker making 15 goal contributions in his 21 top-flight H2H meetings (G10, A5). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Only three of Sociedad’s 17 home league games this season saw over 1.5 first-half goals.[/p]
[p]Written by Matthew Billon[/p]