La Liga: Celta Vigo Vs Rayo Vallecano – Match preview

Off the back of consecutive handicap-beating La Liga home victories, and enjoying a stretch of five consecutive home La Liga games with at least one goal to their name, Celta appear unlikely to replicate the 0-0 draw at Vallecano in November.

Celta Vigo

After disrupting the title runs of both Betis and Sevilla in January, Celta Vigo are fast becoming a pest for many La Liga clubs in 2021/22. Next up they could severely dent the European ambitions of Rayo Vallecano, who continue to freefall down the table after a winless month in La Liga. Off the back of consecutive handicap-beating La Liga home victories, and enjoying a stretch of five consecutive home La Liga games with at least one goal to their name, Celta appear unlikely to replicate the 0-0 draw at Vallecano in November. If they want to be involved in the UEFA competition themselves in 2022/23 – and it is possible with just a seven-point deficit to the top six at the start of the round – they need to drastically improve upon their record against clubs above them in the table going into the weekend.

Rayo Vallecano

Vallecano manager Andoni Iraola remains undefeated against Celta, having beaten them in extra time as part of CD Mirandés’ giant-killing Copa del Rey campaign in 2019/20. His players travel here after a 1-0 midweek Copa quarter-final win against Mallorca, a result that saw Rayo progress past the tournament’s quarters for just the second time in their history, and they will now hope to use that as a catalyst to end their longest winless drought of this La Liga season. Their European dreams continue to be thwarted by a mediocre travelling record, albeit that record improves sharply when excluding clubs in the top seven at the beginning of the round. That suggests they ought to be confident of taking at least one point here, as they have done in two-thirds of their top-flight trips to Celta.

Santi Mina has found the back of the net before the break-in Celta’s last two La Liga home games, whilst Isi Palazon remains the last player to score for Vallecano in a La Liga away game. Vallecano have been awarded the fewest total cards in six of their last seven La Liga matches.