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

The away side are currently 13th in the table, boasting 11 points from their opening 13 matches, while Almeria sit 15th, one point behind their opponents ahead of this weekend's contest.

Match preview

Almeria secured a return to Spain's top flight by winning the Segunda Division last season, and they are back at this level for the first time since 2014-15, which ended in relegation.

La Union are expected to be among the teams battling the drop this term, but they are currently out of the relegation zone, sitting 15th in the table, having collected 10 points from their opening 11 matches.

No team has lost more La Liga games this season (seven), but three victories have kept them above the bottom three, and Rubi's side have actually won two of their last four in Spain's top flight, including a 3-2 success over Girona in their last home fixture on October 20.

Almeria will enter this match off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Villarreal, though, with the Yellow Submarine coming from behind to triumph, and their second did not arrive until the 94th minute of the contest.

UDA have not actually faced Celta in La Liga since May 2015, with the points being shared in a 2-2 draw, while they are unbeaten against the Sky Blues at this level of football since April 2014.

Celta are on a disappointing run of form, picking up just one point from their last four matches, which has left them in 13th position in the table on 11 points.

Eduardo Coudet's side have not been victorious in the league since overcoming Real Betis on October 2, losing three of their last four against Barcelona, Real Sociedad and Real Valladolid.

Celta managed to end the losing run last time out, though, as they played out a 1-1 draw with Getafe at home; Enes Unal's 43rd-minute effort looked to be securing all three points for the visitors, only for Joseph Aidoo to come up with the leveller in the 89th minute of the contest.

The Sky Blues finished 17th in back-to-back campaigns in 2018-19 and 2019-20, but they were eighth in 2020-21 and then claimed 11th last term, and it would not be a surprise to see them in a similar spot this term.

Iago Aspas has again been the team's standout performer this term, with the 35-year-old contributing six goals and two assists in 11 La Liga appearances.

Almeria La Liga form:

L

L

W

L

W

L

Celta Vigo La Liga form:

L

W

L

L

L

D

Team News

Almeria are again expected to be without the services of Carlos Rojas, Alex Centelles, Marko Milovanovic and Juanjo Nieto for this weekend's contest.

Ivan Martos remains a major doubt, but the team did not pick up any fresh concerns in their clash with Villarreal last time out, so it is expected to be the same squad available for this match.

Rubi will have been pleased with what he saw against Villarreal, and it might therefore be an unchanged side here, with a 5-3-2 formation featuring Leo Baptistao and El Bilal Toure in the final third of the field.

As for Celta, Augusto Solari is again expected to miss out through injury, while Hugo Mallo will be absent with the hamstring issue that he suffered against Getafe.

Oscar Mingueza is likely to take Mallo's spot in the side, while head coach Coudet could make changes elsewhere in a bid to cause Almeria problems.

Carles Perez could therefore come into the side in a wide area, while there might be an alteration in the final third of the field, with Goncalo Paciencia potentially starting alongside Aspas.

Almeria possible starting lineup:

Pacheco; Pozo, Kaiky, Ely, Brandariz, Akieme; Robertone, Eguaras, Melero; Baptistao, Toure

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Marchesin; Mingueza, Aidoo, Nunez, Galan; Rodriguez, Beltran, Veiga, Perez; Aspas, Paciencia

We say: Almeria 1-1 Celta Vigo

Celta will view this match as the ideal chance to return to winning ways, but Almeria have been victorious in two of their last four and will also believe that they can triumph on Saturday afternoon. These two sides have only drawn three times between them in the league this term, but we can see a stalemate occurring here.

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