Valencia will be aiming to bounce back from a heavy defeat to Barcelona when they continue their La Liga campaign with a clash against Celta Vigo at Mestalla on Sunday afternoon.
Los Che are 19th in the La Liga table, boasting only 16 points their opening 21 matches of the campaign, while Celta sit 13th, and the visitors will bring a four-game winless run into this weekend's contest.
Match preview
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Valencia were stunned by Barcelona last weekend, conceding five times in the first half to the Catalan giants, and it eventually finished 7-1, as Los Che suffered a defeat which will have been incredibly damaging to their morale at a vital stage of the season.
Carlos Corberan's side are 19th in the table, boasting just 16 points from their 21 league matches this season, and they are five points behind 17th-placed Alaves ahead of the next set of fixtures in Spain's top flight.
There is more than enough talent in the Valencia squad to move out of trouble in the coming weeks, though, and there had been signs of real progress before the heavy loss to Hansi Flick's side.
Los Che have picked up 12 points from their 10 home league matches this season, and they will be welcoming a Celta outfit that have only managed to triumph in one of their 10 La Liga games on their travels during the 2024-25 campaign.
Valencia are currently on a three-game winless run against Celta, including a 0-0 draw in the corresponding match last season, while Celta recorded a 3-1 victory when the pair locked horns for the reverse fixture back in August 2024.
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Celta opened 2025 with a 3-2 win over Racing de Santander in the Copa del Rey, but they have since exited the competition to Real Madrid, while their league form since the turn of the year has been disappointing.
Indeed, Claudio Giraldez's side have only picked up one point from their three league fixtures in 2025, losing to Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Bilbao before drawing 1-1 with Alaves last time out.
The Sky Blues have won seven, drawn four and lost 10 of their 21 league matches this season to collect 25 points, which has left them in 13th spot in the table, five points above the relegation zone.
Celta are only three points off eighth-placed Girona and just five from Mallorca in sixth, meanwhile, so a charge for Europe would become a possibility if they were able to find a degree of consistency.
The Sky Blues actually lost five straight league games against Valencia between February 2021 and May 2023, but they have had the better of the recent match-ups and will be aiming to make it a La Liga double over Valencia this term.
Team News
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Valencia will welcome Cristhian Mosquera back into their squad for this match, with the Spaniard serving a suspension against Barcelona, but Thierry Correia, Rafa Mir and Enzo Barrenechea could all again miss out.
Los Che will also need to make a check on the fitness of leading goalscorer Hugo Duro, who has a slight hamstring issue, but the club are hopeful that the striker will be cleared to feature this weekend.
Head coach Corberan will resist the temptation to shuffle his pack, but Mosquera will return at the back, while there could also be a start down the right for Fran Perez.
As for Celta, Marcos Alonso, Hugo Alvarez and Oscar Mingueza will all miss the match through suspension, while Alfon Gonzalez and Iago Aspas will be absent due to injury problems.
Javi Rodriguez is expected to be introduced into the back three due to the absence of Alonso, but it might otherwise be the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Alaves last time out.
Pablo Duran is set to continue down the left for the Sky Blues, while it will be Borja Iglesias, who has scored five times in Spain's top flight during the 2024-25 campaign, through the middle.
Valencia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Foulqiuier, Tarrega, Mosquera, Gaya; F Perez, Pepelu, Guerra, Rioja; Duro, Almeida
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Lago, Starfelt, J Rodriguez; Carreira, Beltran, Moriba, Ristic; Cervi, Iglesias, Duran
We say: Valencia 2-1 Celta Vigo
This is a really important match for Valencia, as there has to be a response from the defeat at Barcelona, and we are expecting Los Che to record a narrow victory against a Celta outfit that will be missing a number of important players.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
