Saturday, November 17

La Liga

Nov 11, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
Celta Vigo
2-4
Real Madrid
Mallo (61'), Mendez (90')
Cabral (87')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Benzema (23'), Cabral (56' og.), Ramos (83' pen.), Ceballos (90')

Game Menu

TIMELINE

Preview: Celta Vigo vs. Real Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

By , European Football Editor | 8d
Sports Mole provides the team news, predicted lineups and a full preview of Real Madrid's trip to Celta Vigo in La Liga.

Real Madrid will be looking for their fourth straight win in all competitions when they travel to Celta Vigo in La Liga on Sunday night.

Santiago Solari has led the team to three wins from his three matches in temporary charge, and Los Blancos will fancy their chances of overcoming a Celta side that has won just one of their last eight in Spain's top flight.


Celta Vigo

Three wins, five draws and three defeats - that is how Celta have performed in their 11 La Liga games this term. A total of 14 points has left them in 11th spot in the table, and they are only actually three points behind sixth-placed Real Madrid ahead of their meeting in Vigo this weekend.

Celta have posted three top-half finishes since returning to La Liga in 2012, but they have ended each of the last two campaigns in 13th position. There is no question that Celta have the squad to improve on that position, but just three wins from 11 matches this term will be a slight disappointment for the fans.

On the flip side, Celta have suffered just three defeats. Two of those have come in their last four matches, but they returned to winning ways with a 4-0 success over Eibar on October 27 before drawing 3-3 with Real Betis last weekend.

Celta were thumped 6-0 by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in May, but the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in the reverse league match last season, and it would be fair to say that Los Blancos have had their problems this season.

Iago Aspas and Maxi Gomez have scored 14 of Celta's 20 league goals this term, and those two will be key to the home side's chances of success on Sunday. Real Madrid still have their problems in a defensive area, and that should create a fascinating battle this weekend.

Indeed, only Barcelona and Sevilla have scored more league goals than Celta this season, while Madrid have already conceded 14 times. Celta have had their problems in recent months, but Antonio Mohamed's side will bring a three-match unbeaten run into this contest.

Recent form: DDLLWD
Recent form (all competitions): DLLWDD


Real Madrid

Real Madrid are far from over their problems this season, but there finally seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, with interim boss Solari leading the team to three wins from his three matches in charge.

In truth, the fixture list has been kind to Solari. Indeed, his first game in charge brought a 4-0 win over Melilla in the Copa del Rey, before Los Blancos put three much-needed La Liga points on the board with a 2-0 success over Real Valladolid at the Bernabeu last weekend.

Wednesday's 5-0 win away to Viktoria Plzen was extremely impressive, however, and Madrid are now on a run of four wins from their last five games in all competitions. That said, the European champions have only won one of their last six in the league, suffering four defeats in the process.

In truth, Madrid should probably be in a worse position at this stage, but the teams around them have also been dropping points. The capital giants sit sixth, but they are only three points off third-placed Sevilla and seven behind the leaders Barcelona, which is not disastrous when considering what could have occurred.

Los Blancos have the chance to put a run of wins on the board, meanwhile, as their next five in the league are against Celta, Eibar, Valencia, Huesca and Rayo Vallecano. The supporters will be expecting to be a better position by the time the winter break rolls round, and that should be the case.

There have certainly been some teething problems in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era, but this is still a squad full of winners, and one that will fancy their chances of overcoming Celta.

Real Madrid will be far from full strength once again, however, with Solari still without a number of key defenders, although the international break should give the club the chance to recover some players.

Recent form: LDLLLW
Recent form (all competitions): LWLWWW


Team News

Celta will be without the services of Stanislav Lobotka and Mathias Jensen through injury, while Emre Mor is also a doubt for the home side this weekend.

As mentioned above, Aspas will be joined by Gomez in the final third of the field, while on-loan Southampton midfielder Sofiane Boufal and Brais Mendez should start in the wide positions.

As for Madrid, it will be a case of 'same again' for Solari when it comes to his back four. Indeed, Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Jesus Vallejo and Marcelo are still all on the sidelines, meaning options are limited.

Nacho will continue alongside Sergio Ramos at centre-back, with Alvaro Odriozola and Sergio Reguilon both enjoying the chances handed to them in the full-back positions.

Luka Modric and Marco Asensio were both left on the bench for Wednesday's 5-0 win at Plzen in the Champions League, but the pair should return, with Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vazquez expected to drop to the bench.

Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema were on the scoresheet in the midweek European match and will continue in the XI, with exciting youngster Vinicius Junior providing an attacking option from the bench.

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Alvarez; Mallo, Cabral, Roncaglia, Alonso; Brais Mendez, Yokuslu, Fran Beltran, Boufal; Gomez, Aspas

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Odriozola, Ramos, Nacho, Reguilon; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Asensio


Head To Head

Real Madrid put six unanswered goals past Celta at the Bernabeu in their last league meeting, but the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in Vigo back in January.

Los Blancos have actually won seven of the last eight league meetings between the two teams, with Celta not triumphing since May 2014.

Worryingly for Celta, Madrid have scored 21 times in their last five league matches with their opponents this weekend.


We say: Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid

There is no question that Celta have the firepower to overcome Madrid this weekend, but the European champions have improved under Solari, and we fancy them to collect all three points with a narrow win.


amp_article_341114 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2018-11-09 19:32:36:
html db last update - 2018-11-17 12:08:23 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Loading ...

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City1210203653132
2Liverpool129302351830
3Chelsea128402781928
4Tottenham HotspurSpurs1290320101027
5Arsenal1273226151124
6Bournemouth126242116520
7Watford126241714320
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd126242021-120
9Everton125431915419
10Leicester CityLeicester125251716117
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves124441213-116
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton124261318-514
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham123361418-412
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle12237915-69
15Burnley122371225-139
16Crystal Palace12228817-98
17Southampton12156821-138
18Cardiff CityCardiff122281125-148
19Huddersfield TownHuddersfield12147622-167
20Fulham121291131-205
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City1210203653132
2Liverpool129302351830
3Chelsea128402781928
4Tottenham HotspurSpurs1290320101027
5Arsenal1273226151124
6Bournemouth126242116520
7Watford126241714320
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd126242021-120
9Everton125431915419
10Leicester CityLeicester125251716117
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves124441213-116
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton124261318-514
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham123361418-412
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle12237915-69
15Burnley122371225-139
16Crystal Palace12228817-98
17Southampton12156821-138
18Cardiff CityCardiff122281125-148
19Huddersfield TownHuddersfield12147622-167
20Fulham121291131-205
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.