Valencia have not had the best of starts to the league campaign, but los Che are hoping the victory over Celta would get them back on track. The newly promoted side escaped the relegation zone by beating Osasuna last time out, meaning they travel to Mestalla in good spirits.

Valencia yet to hit the ground running

Considered by many as the best side in Spanish La Liga aside from the El Clasico rivals, Valencia aim to further establish themselves as the best of the rest in Spain and achieve a 3rd-place finish for the fourth year running. The club chiefs made sure to find decent replacements for Jordi Alba, Mehmet Topal and Pablo Hernandez, signing Joao Pereira, Fernando Gago, Nelson Valdez and Aly Cissokho, among others, so the team are clearly well prepared for the new La Liga campaign. Los Che started the league championship with a credible away draw against Real Madrid before squandering a two-goal lead to share spoils with Deportivo. The narrow defeat to Barcelona proved Valencia are slowly raising their form, with los Che now expected to finally record a victory over Celta. The hosts need a morale-boosting victory before the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, so don’t be surprised if they record a big win here.

David Albelda, Ever Banega and Fernando Gago miss out through injury, but Ricardo Costa returns after serving a one-match ban.

First win for Celta

Celta Vigo are back to Spanish La Liga after a five-year absence, but, having been so long out of the elite division one would think the club would have done better to prepare for the upcoming season. While Javi Varas, Gustavo Cabral and Augusto Fernandez were signed at the start of the transfer window, Michael Krohn-Dehli and Park Chu-Young arrived in the final days of the summer transfer window, probably after the club chiefs realized the team lack the quality needed to compete at this level. Back to back defeats to Malaga and Real Sociedad were somewhat expected, but Celta did manage to record the first win over the season by outclassing Osasuna at home. However, with so many inexperienced players in the side and with a number of important players sidelined or doubtful, the Sky Blues could be in for a difficult night at Mestalla.

Gustavo Cabral looks set to start despite carrying a back injury, but Park Chu-Young, Andres Tunez and Levy Madinda are all out of contention after returning late from international duty.

Verdict

Valencia may have picked up just two points so far, but their showings were not that bad and the difficult fixture list is mostly to blame for the poor start to the season. Therefore, los Che are expected to finally record a victory over Celta, a team that are in for a difficult relegation tussle this season.

Our prediction: Valencia with -1 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.82 (41/50)

Bookmaker: 188BET