Celta Vigo--Villarreal CF PREVIEW

Villarreal make the trip to Galicia to play Celta Vigo.  We have only won once in this ground, but it *was* the last time we played there (October 2014) with two goals from Moi Gomez and one from Mario Gaspar giving us a 3-1 victory.

Celta turned the tables on us in El Madrigal back in October, a late finish from Nolito giving them a 2-1 win in a match where we were a man down for most of the second half, Eric Bailly having been sent off in the 47th minute.  With injuries to Jaume Costa and Mateo Musacchio, Bailly could be a key player this time, too.

Here is our squad:

• Keepers: Areola and Asenjo.
• Defenders: Mario, Rukavina, Víctor Ruiz, Bonera, Eric Bailly and Adrián Marín.
• Midfielders: Pina, Bruno, Trigueros, Denis Suárez, Castillejo, Nahuel and Rodri.
• Strikers: Soldado, Bakambu, Leo Baptistao and Adrián López.

Note there are 19 players selected; Daniele Bonera did not practice today so my guess is we are hoping he can go.  If so, Rodri will probably drop out I'd guess.

I don't have Celta squad yet but as far as I know only Fontas and Beauvue are missing.  Celta are something of an adventurous side; there home record is reasonably good (6-3-4) but even so they have scored 23 goals and allowed 22 in those 13 matches.  So while they are set up to score, with Orellana, Aspas, Guidetti, Nolito among others, they tend to allow plenty of chances too.

Nolito's return after a thigh strain (two months out) improves them immensely; he scored their only goal in their win at Getafe last weekend.

This is really a must-win game for Celta if they are going to challenge us in the table, while for Villarreal coming away with a draw would probably be okay--though picking up three points on the road would sure be nice.

Prediction:  This one could go either way, and to make it more difficult to predict there is the question of what Villarreal's lineup will be, especially in defense.  But I'm going to say 2-1 Villarreal; we are playing really well at the moment and confidence is high.