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

Two struggling teams will lock horns in Spain's top flight on Monday evening with Levante welcoming Celta Vigo to Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.

Levante are currently bottom of the table with just three points to show from their opening five matches, while Celta sit 17th, having only collected five points from their first six games of the 2020-21 campaign.

Match preview

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There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a poor start to the season for Levante, who have won one and lost four of their five matches to sit rock bottom of the table on three points.

Paco Lopez 's side do have a game in hand on the five teams directly above them, though, and would move out of the bottom three if they were able to triumph in their spare fixture.

Levante impressively won at Osasuna at the end of September but have lost their last three in the league to Sevilla, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, failing to score in any of those fixtures.

This is a huge game for the Frogs considering that their next match is away to an impressive Granada on November 1, and it is vitally important that they start to put wins on the board.

Lopez's side are in their fourth straight season at this level and actually finished 12th last term, picking up 49 points from their 38 matches during an impressive campaign in Spain's top flight.

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Celta, meanwhile, will also enter this match off the back of three straight defeats, but a tough run of matches has seen them face Atletico Madrid and Barcelona since the start of the month.

The Sky Blues picked up five points from their first three games of the season against Eibar, Valencia and Real Valladolid, but they have tough games with Real Sociedad and Sevilla on the horizon and will be wary of what another loss on Monday night could do to their confidence.

Oscar Garcia 's side have not been out of Spain's top flight since the 2011-12 season, but they have finished 17th in each of the last two campaigns, and it appears that they could be in for a tough year.

Celta have actually lost their last three league games with Levante, meanwhile, including a 3-1 defeat in the corresponding fixture last term, but they did triumph 2-1 in this particular fixture during the 2018-19 campaign.

Levante La Liga form: LLWLLL

Celta Vigo La Liga form: DWDLLL

Team News

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Central midfielder Cheick Doukoure remains an injury doubt for Levante, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape when it comes to absentees leading into Monday's contest.

Lopez is expected to stick with the bulk of the side that started against Athletic, although Roger Marti and Sergio Leon are both options for change in forward positions.

Jose Luis Morales will keep his spot in the final third, meanwhile, with the Spaniard already scoring three times in Spain's top flight this season.

As for Celta, Joseph Aidoo, Hugo Mallo, Kevin Vazquez and Sergio Alvarez remain unavailable for selection, while the match is also expected to come too soon for Ruben Blanco.

Garcia is likely to shuffle his pack following the Atletico clash, with Emre Mor and Denis Suarez both in line to earn recalls to the starting XI.

Like Levante, Celta are expected to be reliant on Iago Aspas for goals this season, and the former Liverpool attacker, who has three league goals to his name already, will again feature in the final third of the field.

Levante possible starting lineup:

Koke; Miramon, Postigo, Vezo, Clerc; Rochina, Campana, Malsa, Bardhi; Marti, Morales

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Villar; Carreira, Araujo, Murillo, Fontan, Olaza; Nolito, Tapia, D Suarez; Aspas, Mor

We say: Levante 1-1 Celta Vigo

Both managers will be determined to end their recent losing runs, which could create a cagey and tight match on Monday evening. There is not an awful lot between the two sides in terms of quality, and we are struggling to separate them here, ultimately tipping a low-scoring draw in Valencia.

Top betting tip

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