Celta Vigo will be bidding to make it back-to-back victories in Spain's top flight when they continue their 2022-23 campaign at home to Cadiz on Friday night.
Eduardo Coudet's side will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 win over Girona last Friday, while Cadiz suffered a 4-0 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao in their last game on Monday.
Match preview
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Celta picked up a point in a 2-2 draw with Espanyol on the opening weekend of the new La Liga campaign but were well beaten at home by Real Madrid one week later, suffering a 4-1 loss to the champions.
Coudet's team managed to pick up their first three points of the season last Friday, though, with Iago Aspas scoring the only goal of the contest at Girona, and a total of four points from three matches has left the Vigo outfit in 12th spot in the table heading into this match.
Celta finished 17th in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 La Liga campaigns, but they have not been in any relegation danger in the last two campaigns, claiming eighth and 11th position respectively, and it will be interesting to see what the team can achieve this term.
The Sky Blues are actually winless in their last three La Liga games with Cadiz, including a 2-1 defeat in the corresponding match last season, with their last success over the Yellow Submarine coming in December 2020.
Celta also found it difficult to show consistency in front of their own supporters last season, picking up only 25 points from 19 matches, which was one of the poorer records in the division.
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Cadiz, meanwhile, have struggled at the start of the 2022-23 campaign, losing their opening three games against Real Sociedad, Cadiz and Athletic Bilbao, conceding seven times and scoring zero.
The Yellow Submarine are at the bottom of the division on zero points, and they will enter this contest off the back of a 4-0 home loss to Athletic, who made the breakthrough in the first half through Inaki Williams before scoring three more times in the second half of action.
Cadiz are in Spain's top flight for the third year in succession, but they only narrowly avoided relegation to the Segunda Division last season, finishing 17th in the division.
Sergio Gonzalez's side had the worst home record in La Liga last season, only picking up 18 points from 19 matches, but they were relatively strong on their travels, claiming 21 points from 19 games, including five victories, and the visitors will be determined to put their first points of the season on the board.
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Team News
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Celta will have to make at least one change to the side that started against Girona last time out, with Renato Tapia out due to the shin problem that he picked up in the 1-0 win.
As a result, Gabriel Veiga could come in for a start, but it is otherwise expected to be the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Michel's side.
Aspas is set to be joined by Carles Perez in the final third of the field, with Oscar Rodriguez, Javier Galan and Hugo Mallo also among those expected to retain their spots for the contest.
As for Cadiz, Jon Ander Garrido and Isaac Carcelen remain on the sidelines through injury, but the team will be boosted by the return of Tomas Alarcon from suspension.
Despite the four-goal loss to Athletic, head coach Sergio is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes, but Alex and Lucas Perez could both come in for starts.
Perez could start alongside Alvaro Negredo in the final third of the field, while a new-look central midfield could see Alex partner Alarcon, with Jose Mari and Antonio Blanco dropping out.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Marchesin; Mallo, Aidoo, Nunez, Galan; Rodriguez, Beltran, Veiga, Cervi; Aspas, Perez
Cadiz possible starting lineup:
Ledesma; Zaldua, Hernandez, Fali, Espino; Alejo, Alex, Alarcon, Arzamendia; Perez, Negredo
We say: Celta Vigo 2-0 Cadiz
Celta have made an encouraging start to the season, but it has been a struggle for Cadiz, who could find themselves in a relegation battle this term. The home side have a lot of quality in forward areas, and we are expecting them to make it back-to-back victories in Spain's top flight with a comfortable success.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
