Celta Vigo vs Athletic Bilbao preview

May 2, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Athletic vs CeltaBuoyed by two successive victories, Celta Vigo host Athletic Bilbao looking to finally escape the relegation positions in La Liga.

Los Leones are seven points clear of their next opponents following a 2-2 draw with Barcelona, but they cannot really afford to lose at Balaidos.

Celta Vigo have played some great football this season and they quickly proved they don’t deserve to go down, but the lack of cutting edge up front could end up costing them dearly.

The Sky Blues were creating chances for fun, but not scoring as much as they would have liked and few weeks back they found themselves in a very difficult position.

However, back to back victories over Real Zaragoza and Levante saw the team keep their survival dream alive, although they cannot afford to relax just yet.

With five games to go, Celta Vigo sit one point clear of safety and in desperate need of a win against Athletic, and they are 2.50 (3/2) at BetVictor to make it three in a row.

The good news is that Danijel Pranjic and Park Chu-Young have resumed full training and they should be in contention for starting places.

Star striker Iago Aspas did receive his fifth booking of the season against Levante, but he has been cleared to play after his yellow card was rescinded. However, Natxho Insa and Roberto Lago are banned.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Varas – Jonny, Vila, Tunez, Bellvis – Oubina, Alex Lopez – Fernandez, Bermejo, Krohn-Dehli – Aspas.

This has proved to be one of the most difficult seasons in club’s recent history, meaning everybody at the club is eagerly awaiting for the La Liga campaign to end.

There are still five games to go and despite sitting seven points clear of the relegation zone, Athletic haven’t quite secured league survival just yet.

A hard-fought draw against Barcelona could be just the boost the team need ahead of the season finale, but they clearly face a tough task at Balaidos.

Seeing as how los Leones only won once on last eight league travels, they would probably settle for one point from Galicia.

Ander Herrera, who scored the last-gasp equalizer against Barcelona, misses out through suspension, while Iker Muniain is set to be dropped.

Aritz Aduriz looks set to continue as a lone striker, but Inigo Perez and Aymeric Laporte are likely to miss the rest of the season.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Iraizoz – Iraola, San Jose, Ekiza, Aurtenetxe – Iturraspe, Gurpegui, De Marcos – Susaeta, Aduriz, Ibai Gomez.

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