Celta Vigo will try to keep the momentum going following the impressive victory at Camp Nou and cement their place in the top 6 with a home win over Granada. Los Rojiblancos are going through a very difficult patch at the moment and they will have a mountain to climb at Balaidos.

Celta prove their worth

It is fair to say that not too many people are surprised by Celta’s latest exploits considering the team were already showing a great deal of potential in the second part of last season under Luis Enrique. The talented coach is no longer at Balaidos, but his successor Eduardo Berizzo has done just as well, if not better, obviously with a help of several exciting summer recruits. The best thing about the Sky Blues is that they have shown incredible consistency in the opening exchanges, which is enough to suggest they actually have the quality for a top table finish rather than this being just a fluke. The 1-0 triumph over Barcelona was a perfect proof as Celta did well to keep their nerves despite being on the back foot and scored a brilliant goal to secure a memorable victory. Having climbed to sixth in the league standings, the Sky Blues will give their best to remain in European positions for as long as possible and they have got to be considered favourites to see off struggling Granada. With few more players back to the side, Celta should be backed to record a comfortable win on Saturday evening.

Augusto Fernandez and Andreu Fontas are back in contention, meaning Marc Planas and Borja Oubina remain the only unavailable players.

Granada in problems

Granada stayed without some very important players during close season and it is now clear they have failed to sign proper replacements. Los Rojiblancos enjoyed a good start to the new campaign, taking eight points from first four games, but they have since picked up just one more point, while losing five of last six fixtures. And while heavy losses to Barcelona and Real Madrid are hardly surprising, the club should be more worried by the fact Granada lost to relegation rivals Levante, Malaga and Rayo Vallecano, while mustering a 1-1 draw against Eibar. Looking at the team sheet, Joaquin Caparros’ side do not look good enough to survive the current campaign, and numerous injuries to star players are only making matters worse. Key midfielder Piti is not yet ready to return while few more footballers have been added to the infirmary, so things are definitely not looking good for Granada at the moment, especially as they are about to face one of Spain’s form teams away from home. Los Rojiblancos did hold Celta to a 1-1 draw at Balaidos in the same fixture last term, but were then beaten at home 2-1.

Sulayman Marreh, Piti and Darwin Machis are out injured, but Manuel Iturra, Isaac Success and Dimitri Foulquier should be fit to play.

Verdict

Celta have been playing at a very high level of late, and they definitely have enough quality and experience to see off out-of-form Granada at their Balaidos. Los Rojiblancos are completely out of confidence after losing five of last six games and I just cannot see them getting anything from this match.

Top pick: Home win   1.60 (3/5) @ William Hill

Alternative pick 1: Celta/Celta   2.40 (7/5) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 2: Celta to win to nil   2.50 (3/2) @ SkyBet