Celta Vigo vs Mallorca Preview

La Liga will resume this Friday with Celta Vigo hosting Mallorca in the first hand of Round 16.

Celta comes into this tie looking to record their first La Liga win in almost a month. The hosts opened this season with two consecutive wins against Alaves and Valencia but since then, they have only won three league games in 13 outings, the last win coming in early November, just before the international break.

Since the break, Celta Vigo have drawn two and lost one of their league games leaving them in a precarious position in the league. But despite being just five ahead of 18th-placed Espanol, the hosts are not so far off from the European spots, with just six points separating them from their visitors in sixth.

Therefore, this visit from Europe-chasing Mallorca affords them the perfect chance to showcase their credentials. The Sky Blues can bank on their home form to reduce the deficit here as they have won four times at home this season (D2, L2), with both of those defeats coming against sides in the top three.

Still competing against the league’s better sides has been Celta’s undoing this season, with Claudio Giráldez’s men failing to beat a side starting the round above them in the table this season (D3, L5).

Meanwhile, Mallorca have comfortably made their best 16-game start to a La Liga season across the last decade, having taken 24 points so far (W7, D3, L6). Still, a 5-1 midweek defeat to Barcelona was a stark reminder that they shouldn’t get carried away by their sixth-place pre-round placing.

They won’t sit in such a lofty position for much longer if they can’t turn around a run of three defeats in five La Liga games (W2). However, the possibility of them responding immediately to their recent loss is slim as Mallorca have lost two of their last three away league outings (W1) however they should be optimistic about the thought of facing Celta as they’ve gone unbeaten in 11 of the last 12 La Liga H2Hs (W6, D5), while manager Jagoba Arrasate has won on his last two personal visits to face Celta.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table