Sporting Gijon vs Celta Vigo Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

This is quite a tough game to call and the bookies have both sides at 13/8 to win the match. Sporting Gijon are having a very poor season but Celta have struggled on the road and put in a huge effort on Thursday night in Europe, so this could go either way. What does look almost certain is goals.

Both teams have scored in a huge 91% of Sporting Gijon’s home games this term but more often than not they’ve been outscored by their opponents, with 64% of their fixtures at El Molinon ending in defeat. Their last two matches have at least offered some hope that they could yet beat the drop. They won 2-0 at fellow strugglers Leganes in a key game a fortnight ago and were arguably the better team for 80 minutes against Atleti last weekend, only be over-powered late on by a 5 minute hat-trick from Kevin Gameiro.

Sporting are yet to keep a home clean sheet and have conceded an alarming 2.55 goals per game at home this term, so an away goal looks virtually guaranteed here. On a more positive note, they have looked better in the final third of late and have scored at least once in 12 of their last 14 matches in all competitions. The addition of 6 foot 8 inch Lacina Traore has given them a real threat up top and he should cause problems for a Celta side that isn’t the biggest. Given that, backing Traore to score anytime at 11/5 looks good here.

Celta may have little choice but to rotate heavily, having played for 120 minutes in Ukraine on Thursday night. They picked up a hugely surprising 2-0 win at Shakhtar to overturn a 1st Leg deficit so confidence in their camp will be high, although there will be some tired legs. Celta have conceded 1.82 goals per game away from home in La Liga this term, which strongly suggests Sporting will cause problems here. The Galicians also have the worst overall defensive record in the top half, with 1.64 goals per game conceded.

However, they are still the side with greater attacking quality, even allowing for some rotation. Their matches in La Liga this term average 3.27 goals per game and they’ve already been involved in two 3-3 draws away from home. Given that and given the tendency for goals in Sporting home games, backing Both Teams to Score at 3/4 looks good.