These two sides are up and coming in their domestic leagues but are both on bad runs of form at the moment.
Celta Vigo had a fantastic start to 2017 with six consecutive victories, however, they are now without a win in their last three and were thrashed 5-0 by Barcelona at the weekend, leaving them down in 10th in La Liga. However, they knocked out Europa League dark horses Shakhtar Donetsk in the last round so should still be taken seriously.
Eduardo Berizzo’s men are certainly a team who focus on the attacking side of the game and have found the back of the net 39 times in 25 matches. Unfortunately for them though, this means they are incredibly open at the back and they have the fifth-worst defensive record in La Liga with 44 goals conceded whilst they have also kept just five clean sheets all season and none in their last three.
The Celts’ home form was fantastic in the early part of the season with 11 wins in 14 matches in all competitions. However, they have recently had a dramatic downturn with just one win in their last five – although they did secure a draw against Real Madrid in that time.
Krasnodar managed to secure a draw against title hopefuls Spartak Moscow in their first Russian Premier League match since the winter break after their disappointing loss to Ural in the Russian Cup.
The Bulls are one of the more attacking sides in the Russian league and have scored 26 times in 18 matches. A lot of these goals come through striker Fedor Smolov who is undoubtedly the club’s talisman but, unfortunately for Krasnodar, he will miss this vital match in Spain on Thursday. Igor Shalimov’s team are not the best defensively and have conceded 16 goals in 18 matches. This would usually be a good statistic in most leagues but, considering how low-scoring the Russian Premier League is, it is actually quite poor.
Home form has been the backbone to Krasnodar’s success in the last few seasons but they have really struggled away from home with just five points taken from seven league games. Furthermore, they have not won a competitive game on their travels since late September.
With both of these sides in bad form, this match is quite difficult to call in terms of a winner. Smolov will be a huge miss for Krasnodar but, given Celta’s poor defence, they will still fancy their chances of scoring on Thursday.
Both teams are more than capable going forward and we could be in for a fair few goals here. ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’, at 15/8, is a good bet.
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