Valencia - Celta Vigo predictions and free betting tips [17/01/2024]

On Wednesday, 17th January, as part of the Spanish Cup's ⅛ finals, "Valencia" will host "Celta" at their home ground. Rafa Benitez's charges trail the home side by 12 points in La Liga, thus the favourite for the match is clear.

Predicted Lineups

Valencia: Domenech; Correia, Mosquera, Paulista, Vasquez; Perez, Guillamon, Guerra, Canos; Lopez, Mari.
Celta: Villar; Vazquez, Nunez, Jailson, Ristic; Perez, Tapia, Beltran, De La Torre; Larsen, Douvikas.

Stadium

The match will take place in Valencia at the Mestalla stadium.

Valencia

The eight-time winners of the national Cup (last time in 2019) are eager to bring the trophy back to Mestalla at the end of the season and secure their place in the Europa League. The last few campaigns have not been successful for the "Bats": last year they were even close to relegation from the elite division, but managed to save themselves in the final rounds.

The situation is different now: the "blanquinegros" are in 8th place in the table, trailing by three points from the Eurocup zone, largely thanks to a 1:4 victory over "Cadiz" last weekend (goals were scored by Hugo Duro, Lopez Nogerol, Gerra Moreno and Jesus Vasquez). The Orange-Whites have three consecutive victories under their belt, among which - a success in the previous cup round against "Cartagena" (1:2 after extra time).

Celta

This season, "Celta" is fighting to stay in the elite division (currently sitting 16th in the table, two points ahead of the following "Cadiz"). Despite this, the Galicians have a rich history in the Copa del Rey, having lost three finals - in 1948, 1994, and 2001. In the previous round of the current tournament, the sky-blue beat "Amorebieta", who are competing in Segunda, by 2:4.

The visitors have been in good form recently, having lost only once in their last nine matches in all competitions, and last weekend drew 1:1 with "Mallorca" in La Liga. Now, Rafa Benitez will return to Mestalla, where his illustrious coaching career began (he won two league titles and one UEFA Cup with Valencia).

Head to Head

At the end of November, "Valencia" played out a goalless draw with "Celta" at home, although they had previously won all of their previous four meetings at Mestalla against "Los Che".

Match Forecast Valencia–Celta

Celta has sorted out its defence and lost only once in its last 9 matches in all competitions. However, it will not be easy for the sky-blues to succeed on Wednesday: Valencia will be playing at home in front of their own fans, have a streak of three victories and historically perform well in the national Cup. I believe that class will prevail, and "Los Che" will secure their quarterfinals spot in the tournament.

Total Forecast

Except for the teams' last encounter in November, at least two goals per match were scored in their seven previous head-to-head matches. I expect an open game at Mestalla and put my money on the total goals over 2.

Corner Forecast

With the backing of their own crowd, Valencia just cannot afford to play second fiddle - hence, the hosts will attack more and will win on corners.

Yellow Cards Forecast

In the four most recent head-to-head matches, the teams have totaled 25 yellow cards combined (an average of 6 per game). I'm putting my money on the total number of cautions over 4.5.

Score Forecast

I'm betting on an exact score of 2:1 in favour of Valencia.