Alaves will be looking to give their La Liga survival hopes a boost when they welcome Celta Vigo to Estadio de Mendizorroza on Sunday afternoon.
The home side are currently 19th in the table, two points behind 17th-placed Elche, while Celta occupy 11th position, having picked up 34 points from their 28 league matches this term.
Match preview
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Alaves could be bottom of the table by the time that they take to the field for this match, with 20th-placed Huesca, who are only two points behind them, in action against Levante on Friday night.
There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough campaign for the Basque club, but they are only two points behind 17th-placed Elche, and there is plenty of football to be played before the end of the season.
Alaves have won five of their 28 league matches this season, which is not disastrous considering their position in the table, but they have lost 15 times, which is the worst record in the division.
El Glorioso, who are operating in their fifth straight season at this level of football, have lost six of their 14 home league fixtures this term, winning just three times in the process.
Abelardo's side have lost five of their last six in the league, meanwhile, and entered the international break off the back of a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital.
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Celta, meanwhile, lost 3-1 at home to Real Madrid last time out; Santi Mina halved the deficit late in the first period after Zinedine Zidane's side had gone two goals ahead, but the hosts could not recover and conceded a third late on as they were beaten by the champions in Vigo.
Eduardo Coudet's side are currently 11th in Spain's top flight, and they should be looking up the table rather than down as just two points separate them from eighth-placed Granada.
The Sky Blues have actually finished 17th in their last two La Liga campaigns, but it does not appear that they will be in any potential relegation trouble in 2020-21.
Celta have only won two of their 14 away league fixtures this term, which will not hand their supporters too much confidence leading into Sunday's contest, but they have won their last two matches against Alaves by an aggregate score of 8-0.
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Team News
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Alaves will again be without the services of Rodrigo Ely through injury, but the home side will be boosted by the return of Tomas Pina and Manu Garcia from suspension.
Ximo Navarro has also recovered from illness and should again start at right-back, while Joselu is expected to lead the attack with support from Edgar Mendez.
There is also likely to be another start for on-loan Manchester United attacker Facundo Pellistri, while Luis Rioja could replace Pere Pons for the hosts.
As for Celta, Augusto Solari, Nestor Araujo, Sergio Alvarez, Ruben Blanco and Emre Mor are all unavailable for selection through injury.
Araujo's absence means that Joseph Aidoo should get the nod alongside Jeison Murillo in the middle of the defence, while Ivan Villar will retain his position between the sticks.
There are not expected to be any surprises further forward for the visitors, with Mina, Nolito and Brais Mendez all set to feature alongside leading scorer Iago Aspas.
Alaves possible starting lineup:
Pacheco; Navarro, Laguardia, Lejeune, Duarte; Pellistri, Garcia, Pina, Rioja; Mendez, Joselu
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Mallo, Aidoo, Murillo, Martin; Tapia; Mendez, Suarez, Nolito; Mina, Aspas
We say: Alaves 1-2 Celta Vigo
Alaves are in desperate need of the points as they bid to escape the relegation zone, but we are finding it difficult to back the hosts against a talented Celta, who will be eyeing a top-half finish. It should be a tight encounter, but we are expecting the visitors to emerge victorious courtesy of a 2-1 success.
Top tip
Data 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 42.64%. A win for Alaves had a probability of 28.73% and a draw had a probability of 28.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Celta Vigo win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.48%) and 1-2 (8.22%). The likeliest Alaves win was 1-0 (10.55%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.17%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 3.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Celta Vigo would win this match.
