Elche will be looking to return to winning ways in Spain's top flight when they continue their 2020-21 campaign at home to struggling Celta Vigo on Friday night.
Los Franjiverdes are currently 10th in La Liga, just four points off the top six, while Celta occupy 17th position in the table, having picked up just six points from their opening eight games of the season.
Match preview
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Elche have made a positive start to their 2020-21 campaign, picking up 10 points from their opening six matches to sit in 10th position, and they would actually rise into seventh spot with a win on Friday night.
Jorge Almiron's side picked up three wins from their four matches between September 30 and October 23, but they will enter this particular fixture off the back of a 3-1 defeat at Real Betis last weekend.
Elche secured a return to Spain's top flight for the current season by advancing through the Segunda Division playoffs last term, beating Girona at the end of August to return to this level.
The Green-striped ones last competed in La Liga in 2014-15, when they finished 13th but were relegated to the second tier because of unpaid debts to the tax authorities.
Almiron's team have shown enough in the early weeks of the campaign to suggest that they are more than capable of avoiding relegation, but a defeat in this game would certainly be a setback.
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Celta, meanwhile, have only picked up six points from their opening eight games of the season to sit in 17th position, just one point outside of the relegation zone.
The Sky Blues have won one, drawn three and lost four of their eight matches and have actually been beaten in four of their last five games, including a 4-1 reverse at home to Real Sociedad last time out.
No La Liga side has scored fewer goals (5) than Celta this season; Iago Aspas has four of those, which is an indication of the team's problems in the final third of the field.
Oscar Garcia's side have not competed outside of Spain's top flight since 2011-12 but have finished 17th in each of their last two campaigns, and the early indications are that it could be a tough season.
Another poor result on Friday would place more pressure on the team leading into their next match, which is a very difficult trip to Estadio Ramon to face Sevilla on November 21.
Elche La Liga form: LWDWWL
Celta Vigo La Liga form: DLLLDL
Team News
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Elche are in excellent shape at the moment in terms of injuries, although Guido Carrillo remains a doubt with a knee issue and will therefore have to undergo a late fitness test.
Lucas Boye returned from an injury of his own to face Betis last time out and should start alongside Pere Milla in attack, while Raul Guti is expected to retain his spot in midfield.
Victor Rodriguez is pushing for a spot in the middle of the park, although neither Ivan Marcone nor Juan Sanchez are expected to drop out of the starting XI.
As for Celta, Sergio Alvarez and Kevin Vazquez remain on the sidelines through injury, but Hugo Mallo is close to shaking off a hamstring issue and could therefore be involved.
Jose Fontan was sent off against Sociedad last weekend, meaning that Lucas Olaza could earn a spot in the XI, while Joseph Aidoo is also expected to return to the starting side.
Aspas is a certain starter in the final third of the field, and the Spaniard is likely to be joined by Santi Mina and Nolito, with Miguel Baeza dropping to the bench.
Elche possible starting lineup:
Badia; Fernandez, Barragan, Verdu, Josema, Fidel; Guti, Marcone, J Sanchez; Boye, Milla
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Blanco; Carreira, Araujo, Aidoo, Olaza; Beltran, Tapia, D Suarez; Mina, Aspas, Nolito
We say: Elche 2-1 Celta Vigo
Elche have made an encouraging start to the season, but the same cannot be said for Celta, who have really struggled for performances and results. We are expecting a close game on Friday night but believe that Elche will have enough to pick up another three points.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Away Win:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Celta Vigo win with a probability of 44.58%. A draw had a probability of 28.3% and a win for Elche had a probability of 27.09%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celta Vigo win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.96%) and 1-2 (8.41%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.03%), while for a Elche win it was 1-0 (10.1%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13% likelihood.
