Celta Vigo vs Barcelona Prediction: Two Bet Builders for Saturday night’s tie

La Liga leaders Barcelona head to Celta Vigo on Saturday night (20:00) looking to bounce back from a rare defeat at Real Sociedad a couple weeks ago.

Our Spanish football expert Mark Sochon is on-hand with his Celta Vigo vs Barcelona predictions - complete with the latest match odds and team news.

Barcelona head to Vigo as La Liga returns from the international break this weekend. They’ve been left stewing over their second league defeat of the season for a fortnight, but will be hungry to bounce back with victory in another potentially tricky away fixture.

Last time out, Barça succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the Reale Arena against Real Sociedad. While much of the discourse surrounding that game centred on a hugely controversial decision to rule out an early Robert Lewandowski goal for offside, the visitors could have few complaints with the outcome in truth.

It was an off day for Hansi Flick’s side who failed to register a single shot on target in the game. With Lamine Yamal sidelined due to injury, a team that had fired in 40 goals in their opening 12 league fixtures were strangely out of sorts and saw their lead at the top cut to six points on a weekend when both Madrid clubs won.

Perhaps it was little more than a bad day at the office, at the end of another busy period that saw the Catalans sweep past the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Flick certainly won’t be panicking after one defeat, although he will be considering how best to structure his team in the absence of his young winger.

He effectively played four central midfielders in San Sebastian with Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Casadó and Fermín López all starting. The balance wasn’t quite right against a competitive Real Sociedad side, but a lack of depth in the wide areas is perhaps one worry moving forwards.

Ansu Fati and Ferrán Torres are alternative wing options, but both have had their injury problems and in truth represent a significant step down on the level that Raphinha and Yamal have reached so far this term.

Flick may respond by pushing Dani Olmo out wide for the trip to Balaídos where Celta Vigo have already given the two big Madrid clubs a real fright already this term.

The Galicians could easily have won both of those games had they been more clinical in front of goal, but succumbed to a late 1-0 defeat to Atleti and a 2-1 loss against Los Blancos, despite creating the better chances and having more shots than their opponents in each of those games.

Celta have certainly impressed with how they’ve played this term under their young boss Claudio Giráldez. He has constructed a young, attack-minded side, consisting of many of the players who worked with him during his stint as B team boss, but he does have one or two more experienced players who have had big roles to play too.

Veteran forward Iago Aspas remains the focal point of their attack and much of their good work in the final third involves him. Former Barça duo Marcos Alonso and Óscar Mingueza have also featured prominently, with the latter playing the best football of his career on the right flank.

Overall, Celta have been a good watch and they head into the weekend with La Liga’s fourth best goalscoring record, but joint second worst defence. They picked up a creditable 2-2 draw at Real Betis last time out, but they have tended to fall just short against the top sides this season, losing all five matches against current top six opposition.

Celta Vigo vs Barcelona Odds

Barcelona are the 4/6 favourites to win the game. You can back Celta Vigo at 18/5, while the Draw is priced at 16/5.

Given Celta’s attacking tendencies, an open game is likely here and you can back Both teams to score at 1/2. For bigger returns, Both teams to score two or more goals is on offer at 11/4, while Both teams to score in both halves is 13/2.

If you can see Barça running into trouble again, Celta Vigo or Draw is priced at 6/5 in the Double chance market, while the Galicians are on offer at 13/8 to score over 1.5 goals.

Flick’s side have recorded some big wins this term though, triumphing by three or more goals on nine occasions already in all competitions. You can back Barcelona -1.00 Handicap at 13/8 in this one, while Barcelona -2.00 Handicap is priced at 4/1.

Despite missing Poland’s internationals over the past fortnight, Robert Lewandowski is expected to start this game and La Liga’s top scorer is available at 7/2 to score first and 10/11 to score anytime.

You can also back in-form Raphinha at 6/4 to get on the scoresheet at some point. From a home perspective, Iago Aspas is on offer at 12/5 to score anytime, while you can back Tasos Douvikas at 21/10 in the same market.

Team News

Barcelona make the long trip to Galicia without Lamine Yamal again, with the teenager not expected back for another week or so. Marc-André ter Stegen, Eric García, Ronald Araújo, Ansu, Andreas Christensen and Marc Bernal are also sidelined.

In addition, Flick has a doubt over Ferrán Torres, although he’s unlikely to start even if passed fit. With Olmo expected to return to the eleven, the German is expected to drop either Frenkie de Jong or Fermín López.

As for the hosts, they are only expected to be missing one player, with defender Jailson still sidelined due to injury.

Giráldez has tended to chop and change his starting eleven this term, with few players guaranteed a starting berth. We’re likely to see a few changes again here, with Greek international Tasos Douvikas pushing for a start up front, after he came off the bench to score at the Benito Villamarín last time out.

Bet Builder - Iago Aspas 1+ shots on target & Robert Lewandowski 1+ shots on target @ 19/20

While they say it’s a young man’s game, Robert Lewandowski and Iago Aspas remain two of the very best forwards in La Liga at the ages of 36 and 37 respectively.

Lewandowski has been almost unstoppable this term, scoring 19 goals in 17 club appearances. Meanwhile, Aspas has continued to be Celta’s attacking talisman and averaging 2.1 shots per game, he’s having more attempts than any other player for Giráldez’s men.

I can see both players leaving their mark on this game and I’m using the Bet Builder to back Aspas 1+ shots on target and Lewandowski 1+ shots on target at 19/20.

Bet Builder - Over 2.5 goals & over 7.5 corners @ 4/5

There’s every reason to expect goals in this match. Barcelona have been just about the most devastating attacking force in Europe this term and while they weren’t at their best last time out, they will fancy their chances of bouncing back against a Celta defence that has leaked 22 goals already in La Liga 2024/25.

Celta are creating plenty of problems for opposing teams though and they should have spells of superiority in this game. It’s not in Giráldez’s nature to shut up shop and play for a point, so a watchable end-to-end affair could develop and I’m backing over 2.5 goals and over 7.5 corners at 4/5 - a winning bet in eight of Barça’s last nine matches.

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