Will the Galicians shut out their opponents again?
In the early match of Matchday 6, two teams that have gotten off to a slow start—Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo—face off. The hosts suffered two losses to start the season, and even the end of their preseason suggested such a rocky start.
Their last three preseason friendlies—against teams like Cologne from the Bundesliga and Toulouse from Ligue 1—also all ended in losses. However, they finally secured their first three points last weekend with a 2-1 win over Espanyol Barcelona.
Looking back at last season, Sociedad can only count on a limited home advantage: In the final home standings, they finished in twelfth place (8-5-6). Vigo, on the other hand, was very strong on the road. In fact, only the two top teams, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, ranked ahead of the 2000 Intertoto Cup winner in last season’s away standings!
The visitors achieved this impressive record primarily through a rock-solid defense, which conceded the fewest goals on the road after Real Madrid (20 in 19 away games). Given this context and the hosts’ generally weak offense so far this season, a prediction of no more than one goal for the home team in the match between Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo seems promising.
Furthermore, in our view, the Real Sociedad vs. Celta Vigo odds on no more than two goals in the match could be equally worthwhile. While the visitors’ defense has been solid on the road, the same cannot be said for the Galicians’ offense. As a result, last season’s sixth-place finisher in La Liga averaged just 2.3 goals per away game—the third-lowest total behind Osasuna (2.1) and Getafe (1.9).
This additional Real Sociedad vs. Celta Vigo tip is supported by the low-scoring statistics from the Basques’ home games against the Galician club: Across all competitions, the selected 2.5-goal line was exceeded in only two of the last eight such matches.
Real Sociedad – Celta Vigo Head-to-Head Record
Real Sociedad and the four-time Spanish Cup runner-up last faced each other in January of this year, with the Basques securing a 3-1 victory in front of their home fans. The first leg of the previous season in Vigo also ended in a 1–1 draw for the team that finished tenth last season.
Furthermore, the home record for the team from Estadio Anoeta in this matchup has been positive even when looking back over a longer period: They have lost no more than one of their past six home games against the “Celtiñas,” and half of those ended in victory.
Real Sociedad – Celta Vigo Prediction
Despite their recent victory over Espanyol, Real Sociedad hasn’t quite hit its stride yet, and top striker Mikel Oyarzabal is a prime example. The Spaniard apparently either celebrated winning the World Cup this summer a bit too enthusiastically or is having trouble readjusting to the mundane routine of La Liga after that highlight.
In any case, last season’s 15-goal scorer is still waiting for his first goal of the new season after three matchdays. The visiting Europa League participant also boasted a particularly strong away defense last season, finishing with the second-best record behind Real Madrid.
In the current season of Spain’s top flight as well, the visitors kept a clean sheet in their only away game so far against Valencia. With that in mind, for the matchup between Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo, we’re predicting no more than one goal from the home team led by Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, who won’t be able to coach from the sidelines for this match due to a suspension.
