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Spanish La Liga - Celta Vigo VS Athletic Bilbao Prediction
Spanish La Liga - Celta Vigo VS Athletic Bilbao
Match Time:19-01-2025 21:00 Sunday (GMT+8)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Celta de Vigo
The Galicians ended the previous year with a confident home win, defeating Real Sociedad 2-0. One of the academy graduates, Pablo Duran, scored twice in that match. In their first match of the new calendar year, another academy product, Alfon Gonzalez, secured victory for the team led by Claudio Giraldés, as they triumphed 3-2 against Racing in Santander, a recent leader of La Liga 2, advancing to the next round of the Copa del Rey. However, that marked the end of their successes.
In the previous round of La Liga, Celta justifiably lost 1-2 away to Rayo Vallecano, missing the chance to finish the first half of the season in the upper part of the standings. Currently, Claudio Giraldés' team sits in 12th place, one point behind Osasuna and Betis, and six points shy of Mallorca, along with the European qualification zone. Furthermore, the "celestes" were eliminated from the Copa del Rey this week, suffering another defeat in the Spanish capital, this time to Real Madrid. It is worth noting Celta's effort to revive the intrigue by pushing the game into extra time, but they ultimately fell short, losing 2-5.
Athletic Bilbao
Ernesto Valverde's side also faced elimination from the Copa del Rey this week, meaning the trophy will have a new holder. The "Lions" played at home against Osasuna, whom they had beaten away in their last match of the previous year, and were the clear favorites in the matchup. Toward the end of the first half, the visitors scored two goals within four minutes, to which the hosts responded with a goal from Niko Williams in stoppage time. Shortly after the break, Oscar de Marcos equalized, and Athletic sought to capitalize on the momentum. The Basques created several great opportunities but failed to convert them. Instead, midway through the second half, they conceded a third goal and could not recover.
This was already the third match for Ernesto Valverde’s team in 2025, with not a single victory secured in regulation time. The year started with a hard-fought win on penalties against the modest Logrones. Days later, the Lions suffered a comprehensive defeat to Barcelona in the semifinals of the Supercopa de España in Saudi Arabia, and now they have relinquished their status as Copa del Rey holders. This broke Athletic’s long unbeaten streak across all competitions, although their impressive La Liga run, which consists of ten matches (six wins and four draws), remains intact. Thanks to their recent successes, the Basques have solidified their position in 4th place in the league table, holding a six-point lead over nearest rivals Villarreal and Mallorca, who will clash in the 20th round. Meanwhile, they are only two points behind third-placed Barcelona. However, it is hard to envisage Athletic being able to mount a serious challenge against the giants for a top-three finish this season.
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Mingueza, Starfelt, Dominguez, Carreira; Moriba, Beltran; Duran, Bamba, Cervi; Iglesias
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Gorosabel, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Jauregizar, Ruiz de Galarreta; I Williams, Berenguer, N Williams; Guruzeta
Celta Vigo vs Athletic Bilbao Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
Athletic Bilbao have a good recent record against Celta Vigo and have won 21 out of the last 43 matches between the two teams, as opposed to Celta Vigo's 12 victories.
Celta Vigo have won each of their last two matches at home against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga - as many victories as they had achieved in the 13 such games preceding this run.
Athletic Bilbao have won three of their last four matches against Celta Vigo in La Liga - as many victories as they had achieved in the 11 such games preceding this run.
Celta Vigo have won each of their last three matches at home against Basque teams in La Liga and could achieve their longest such run since 2003.
Prediction: Celta Vigo 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic will enter this match off the back of two disappointing results in the cup, but their league form is excellent, and we are struggling to back them to lose here; Celta, though, have been strong at home this term, and we have had to settle on a low-scoring draw here despite being close to backing an away success.
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