Two teams still looking for their first victories of the 2023-24 La Liga campaign will lock horns on Friday evening, with Almeria welcoming Celta Vigo to Power Horse Stadium.
Both sides have picked up just a single point from their opening three matches, with Almeria currently sitting 19th in the table, while Celta are one position above their opponents in this contest.
Almeria suffered a 2-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on the opening night of the new La Liga campaign before going down 3-1 at home to Real Madrid eight days later.
It appeared that Vicente Moreno’s side would also be losing their third match of the season away to Cadiz on Saturday, but they managed to secure a share of the spoils courtesy of a 95th-minute effort from Kaiky, which cancelled out an opener from Luis Hernandez.
A total of one point has left Almeria down in 19th position in the table, and while position is not too important at this stage, their opening three performances have been disappointing.
La Union only just avoided relegation back to the Segunda Division last season, finishing 17th in Spain’s top flight, one point ahead of 18th-placed Real Valladolid, with their survival battle going to the final game week.
Almeria are unbeaten in their last four La Liga meetings against Celta, including a 3-1 victory in the corresponding clash during the 2022-23 campaign.
Celta, meanwhile, have also picked up just a single point from their opening three games of the new season, starting with a 2-0 defeat at home to Osasuna before drawing 1-1 with Real Sociedad on August 19.
The Sky Blues gave a strong account of themselves against Real Madrid last Friday and came close to securing a point, but Jude Bellingham ultimately won it for Los Blancos in the 81st minute.
Celta finished 13th in Spain’s top flight last season, which proved to be their lowest spot since 17th in 2019-20, and they will be hoping to push for a top-half finish in 2023-24.
Rafael Benitez’s side have been busy this summer in terms of the transfer market, with 24-year-old centre-forward Anastasios Douvikas recently becoming the club’s most expensive signing of the summer, arriving from FC Utrecht.
Celta have also managed to bank a healthy fee by selling Gabri Veiga to Al-Ahli, which could allow them to further boost their squad during the latter stages of the window.
Almeria will once again be missing Martin Svidersky due to a long-term knee injury, while Edgar Gonzalez is suspended following his red card against Cadiz.
Gonzalez’s absence will open the door for Kaiky to feature alongside Chumi in the middle of the defence, while Largie Ramazani is also expected to be introduced into the starting XI.
Leo Baptistao is another pushing to come into the side, but Luis Suarez is again set to lead the line with support from Sergio Arribas and Adri Embarba.
Celta, meanwhile, will be without the services of Goncalo Paciencia and Carles Perez through injury, which was also the case in the team’s last match.
Douvikas, who scored 32 goals in 77 matches for Utrecht, is expected to be in the squad following his recent arrival, but the Greek is unlikely to start, with his debut potentially coming off the bench at some stage of the contest.
Benitez would have been pleased with his team’s performance against Real Madrid, so it would not be a surprise to see the same XI take to the field for this match, although Manu Sanchez is pushing to replace Franco Cervi on the left.
Almeria possible starting lineup:
Maximiano; Pubill, Chumi, Kaiky, Akieme; Baba, Lopy; Embarba, Arribas, Ramazani; Suarez
Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:
Villar; Mingueza, Aidoo, Starfelt, Nunez, M Sanchez; Beltran, De la Torre, Bamba; Larsen, Aspas
We say: Almeria 2-2 Celta Vigo
Both of these two sides would have earmarked this match as the ideal chance to put three points on the board, but we are finding it difficult to separate them. We are expecting some goals on Friday, with the points ultimately being shared at Power Horse Stadium.
