Celta Vigo hope a good start to the league campaign will help them avoid a relegation tussle altogether and they are rightly considered favourites in the opening match. Getafe appear to be on the downtrend of late and it won’t be easy for them to avoid defeat at Balaidos.

Good pre-season for the Sky Blues

Despite playing some great football from the very start to the season, Celta Vigo found themselves in the danger zone last term, and they needed a while to start climbing the league standings. Once the team finally hit the ground running, there was nobody that could stop them and Luis Enrique’s charges eventually achieved a top table finish. Eduardo Berizzo has been signed to replace the now Barcelona coach and the fact there have been no major changes to the side in the summer can be considered a good thing. As a result, Celta are expected to find top form early on, and the team already appear to be in a very good shape. Following away draws against Norwich, Wolves and Burnley, the Sky Blues defeated Everton and Deportivo La Coruna in their final two warm-up games and they will certainly want to take that form into the La Liga campaign. And with most key players fully fit and enjoying good pre-season, the Sky Blues definitely look like they can start the new campaign with a bang.

Summer signing Pablo Hernandez misses out through injury, but Alex Lopez has been given the green light by the medical team.

Getafe in problems

After spending a number of years safely tucked away in the middle of the La Liga standings, Getafe were forced to fight for their lives last term. With mere five games to go, los Azulones sat just one point above the relegation zone, but they then embarked on an excellent run of results to finish the campaign three points in front of the bottom three. The club have since stayed without quite a few important players as Marica, Mosquera, Lopez, Moya and Gavilan all left, while it appears they have failed to sign decent replacements. It is, therefore, not surprising that coach Cosmin Contra has suggested the La Liga survival is the main objective, but it remains to be seen if the team can fare any better than last term. Getafe have failed to impress in pre-season, losing to second division sides Greuther Furth and Mallroca, while sharing spoils with Sporting Gijon, and it is perfectly clear they are in much worse shape than their next opponents. Taking also into account that los Azulones tend to struggle on the travels, I cannot see them getting anything from Balaidos.

Mehdi Lacen is suspended for the opening fixture against Celta Vigo, but there are no other worries for coach Cosmin Contra.

Verdict

Some very good performances in the previous campaign as well as pre-season proved Celta Vigo are slowly becoming a mid table side and the Sky Blues go into the match in high spirits. Meanwhile, Getafe are even weaker than last term when they narrowly avoided the drop, meaning a home win should be a banker here.

Top pick: Home win   1.95 (19/20) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Celta/Celta   3.10 (21/10) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 2: Getafe not to score   2.45 (29/20) @ Coral