This weekend sees the fourth round of fixtures of the 2017/18 Spanish La Liga season and the final match of the weekend is between Espanyol and Celta Vigo at the RCDE Stadium on Monday night. The current league table does not make good reading for either team heading into this match.
Espanyol sit in the relegation zone having picked up only 1 point from the 9 available. Only Deportivo Alaves and Malaga are below them in the league, as neither team have managed to win a point. Celta Vigo are 2 points better off than their hosts and currently occupy 14th place in La Liga. In win in this match would push them into the top half of the table.
Espanyol Form
Espanyol started the season by picking up a point in a 1-1 draw at Sevilla. This was an excellent way to begin the new campaign and confidence was high heading into their first home match of the season against Leganes.
However, a 1-0 defeat soon dampened their spirits and this defeat was followed by a 5-0 hammering at the Camp Nou by local rivals Barcelona. What looked like being a good start to the season has quickly descended into a poor one.
Including league fixtures at the end of last season, Espanyol have lost their last 4 home matches. Not only that but they have failed to score a single goal in any of those 4 games and their fans are craving for a goal to celebrate.
Celta Vigo Form
Celta Vigo make the trip to the RCDE Stadium having picked up their first win of the season last weekend, thanks to the 1-0 home defeat of Deportivo Alaves.
This win came with a huge sigh of relief as Celta Vigo lost their previous 2 La Liga matches. The first defeat came at home to Real Sociedad. Despite taking the lead twice, Celta Vigo conceded 3 goals, including 2 goals in the final 10 minutes to lose the match.
It was a similar story in the following fixture at Real Betis and Celta Vigo failed to hold on to their lead, eventually losing the match 2-1 thanks to a goal 13 minutes from time.
Celta Vigo have lost 8 of their last 10 away La Liga games.
Team News
Espanyol are set to be without the injured duo of Oscar Duarte and Javi Lopez. They are likely to play in a 4-4-2 formation, with Leo Baptistao and Gerard Moreno up-front.
Celta Vigo have doubts over the fitness of John Guidetti and Nemanja Radoja but both could play some part in the match. Iago Aspas is the key man going forward and is looking for his first league goal of the season.
Top Betting Tips
This is a very difficult match to call and should be a very close game. Celta Vigo are coming off the back of their win last week but have a dreadful away record in La Liga. Espanyol are searching for their first win of the new campaign but struggle at home. Therefore the draw seems the best option at 11/5 with Ladbrokes.
Celta Vigo have taken the lead in each of their 3 games this season but ended up on the losing side twice. You can get 13/10 for top betting tip for Celta Vigo to score the first goal of the game.
Spanish international Iago Aspas will be desperate to get his first goal of the season in this game and is available at a tempting 11/5 with Unibet to score at any time.