Celta Vigo v Alavés Betting Tips: Basque side not without a shout at Balaídos

A team who continue to win at home play host to a team who just won’t lose on the road in La Liga on Sunday as Celta Vigo welcome Alavés to Balaídos.

Based on their respective expectations at the start of the campaign, it’s probably fair to say that both Celta and Alavés will be happy with the way things have gone so far. The hosts are picking up points more often than not, especially at home, and aren’t too far off the European spots, while Alavés, as a newly promoted side, have certainly surprised a few and are sitting in a rather lofty 12th position.

Ahead of this fixture, with betting in mind, it appears as though the visitors have been largely overlooked. Odds of 9/2 certainly underestimates Mauricio Pellegrino’s men and they’ve probably got a much better chance than many people think. With such a disparity in prices, Alavés make plenty of appeal and are worth siding with in the ‘Double Chance’ market.

Having secured yet another impressive point last time out at Bilbao (a notoriously hard place to go), the visitors come into this fixture in good shape. They’re unbeaten in nine matches (all-competitions) and haven’t tasted defeat on the road since late October (seven games unbeaten away from home).

They certainly aren’t the most expansive of sides (scored just 15 goals), but Alavés are well-organised and often effective on the break. Another big selling point is that they’re becoming hard to beat. With just 17 goals conceded, the small club from the Basque Country currently boast La Liga’s fourth best defensive record. On top of this, they’ve kept a staggering six clean sheets in their last seven away matches.

Although the visitors are fancied to get something from this match, it would be unfair to say that Celta aren’t a decent side, because they certainly are. However, at times, the result has often masked the performance of Eduardo Berizzo’s men, while they’ve not defended at all well for large parts of the campaign, especially at home. Having conceded 16 goals on home soil, Celta have the third worst home defensive record in the league.

The problem for the hosts hasn’t just been the fact that they’ve conceded quite a lot, they’re also conceding goals week-in-week-out in front of a home crowd – not exactly a recipe for success at the upper-end of the table. Having played nine times at Balaídos this season, Celta are yet to keep a clean sheet. Of course, at the other end of the field they remain a good side, but, against a team who’ve often done a good job when it comes to keeping things tight, this could be a frustrating afternoon for Berizzo and his troops.

The visiting team are making a habit of picking up very useful results on the road and can once again come away from a tough task with something to show for their efforts.

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