Espanyol v Celta Vigo – Betting Preview
Espanyol Summary
The Catalan club urgently needs a win to move on from two consecutive defeats. With these losses and a couple of clubs beneath them winning their respective games, Espanyol are drawn closer to the drop zone.
Before the Round has begun, they are only one point ahead of the relegation zone and failure to win this match against Celta Will see them potentially dragged into the bottom three of La Liga 2022/23.
Looking at team news for Espanyol now. the one confirmed Injury absence is their powerful defensive player Ronael Pierre-Gabriel. He will miss out a couple of weeks minimum with a muscle injury
The Frenchman joins Pedrosa, Gori, and Keidi Bare in the physio room.
After playing very defensive last time out in Madrid, the boss Diego Martínez returns to a 4-2-3-3-1 here.
Oliván and Puado return to the starting team having been sacrificed for the formation and tactical approach in the Bernabeu.
Celta Vigo Summary
In contrast to their struggling host Espanyol, Celta Vigo are experiencing a positive dynamic in recent weeks,
Thanks to a couple of stunning 3-0 home wins against Valladolid and last weekend Rayo Vallecano, they jumped ahead of Espanyol and now sit five points about the relegation zone.
Sandwiched between those big victories mentioned above, Celta Vigo got a credible and useful point in Osasuna.
The Galicians are in excellent form and their spirits are high.
Even still, the manager insists that they will not rest until mathematically safe from relegation. They would love to win here but it seems like a match they would be content mostly, just not to lose.
Looking at team news now. Celta remain without Agustín Marchesín, Óscar Mingueza and Ivan Villar.
Carlos Carvalhal can however recall Hugo Mallo and Renato Tapia due to bans.
Óscar Rodríguez is the only new absence and so either Seferovic or Larsen will sit alongside Iago Aspas, who recovered from a fever midweek and is fully cleared.
Larsen is expected to get the nod, a player who is more direct but far less technical. The Swede takes far fewer shots compared to Oscar Rodriguez, who also has a much better passing ability/accuracy, as illustrated in the image below.
Betting Analysis
Looking at the 1×2 betting market first, which has the two sides closely matched. Celta Vigo is a slight favourite @ 2.60.
Espanyol is @ 2.90 and the draw is @ 3.15.
Moving onto the Asian handicap for this contest. As the betting between these two is so fine, the Draw no bet (DNB) is offered as a cushion. So a bet on either Espanyol @ 2.04 or Celta @ 1.83 would see the full stake returned should it end as a draw. Easy pass here.
Looking at The Under/Over goal betting last of all. The line dropped down from 2.5 to 2.25, making the Over quite temping @ 2.05. Under is @ 1.79. Espanyol will go for this and Celta, although never as attacking when away, will not play for a 0-0. A first half goal opens it right up, this could be a decent game.
