Celta Vigo vs Atletico Madrid 08/07/20

08 July 2020

Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid go head-to-head at the Estadio de Balaídos in a potentially low-scoring La Liga contest. Indeed, four of their last five top-flight H2Hs have featured under 2.5 goals, with none seeing both teams on the scoresheet.

The hosts come into this encounter on a run of three La Liga matches without a win (D2, L1), all of which featured goals in both halves and both teams scoring. Curiously, though, Celta’s rock-solid defense had kept a clean sheet in six of seven league outings before the abovementioned run (W3, D3, L1), with six of those games producing under 1.5 total goals. The clean-sheet theme will be of the essence here, too, given that all six of their previous results (win/loss) in La Liga H2Hs held at this venue saw the winner on the day preserve a blank sheet (W2, L4). A potential reason for Óscar García Junyent to be wary of is Celta’s lack of concentration after the break that has seen 62.5% (ten) of their 16 La Liga home goals conceded this term come in the second half of play.

On the other hand, the visitors are enjoying an outstanding 12-game unbeaten league run (W7, D5), with five of their seven triumphs during that period seeing Atletico Madrid shut out their opponent. But, Los Colchoneros have failed to impress away from home in La Liga this calendar year (W2, D4, L2), scoring under 1.5 goals in five of eight league trips since the calendar flipped. Yet, quick out of the blocks, Diego Simeone’s men have found the net inside the opening 30 minutes of play in each of their last three La Liga away games, adding at least one more goal beyond the hour mark on two of those occasions.