Celta Vigo v Málaga Betting Tips: Balaídos set for plenty of goals

Celta Vigo welcome Málaga to Balaídos on Sunday evening as both teams look to kick-on in their attempts to sure European football next season.

These two sides, both of whom sit on 21 points, certainly haven’t scaled the heights so far this season, but they just about remain within striking distance of the top-six, knowing that a decent run of results would see them rise up in no time at all.

From a betting point of view, there are two eye-catching selections ahead of this fixture. ‘Over 3.5 Goals’ and ‘Malaga to Score Over 1.5 Goals’, at odds of 2/1 and 11/5 respectively are the bets to go for. Goals have been very much the order of the day for these two this season and the possibility of them sharing a high-scoring encounter here seems quite high.

In recent seasons Málaga had begun to make an almost Tony Pulis-esque name for themselves. After their foray into the Champions League under Manuel Pellegrini in 2012, the Andalusian team became known as a side who both scored and conceded few goals. However, as their attacking efforts have improved tremendously this season, it appears as though such a tag has been a well and truly shaken off.

Marcelo Romero’s team have scored 25 goals in their first 16 matches this season – a tally which, considering they scored just 38 in the entirety of the previous campaign, isn’t too bad. In fact, considering only six teams in the division have scored more, it’s a very respectable total indeed. The visitors have looked to play a much more expansive game this season – a tactic which is certainly allowing for more goals.

Having scored 25 all told, Malaga have found themselves scoring two or more goals on eight occasions this season. They’ve looked particularly good in an attacking sense when teams come out and play against them – scoring twice away at both Atlético Madrid and Valencia. Considering Celta certainly aren’t one to sit back at home these stats bode well.

Goals have been commonplace for Celta too this season. They’ve scored plenty, but have also conceded on numerous occasions, particularly on home soil. Given the attacking talent in their ranks – Iago Aspas, Theo Bongonda and Fabián Orellana spring to mind – it’s unsurprising that they’ve scored 15 goals at home, but, considering they play such an open game, it’s also not surprising that they’ve conceded 15 (only two teams in La Liga have conceded more goals at home). Simply put, Eduardo Berizzo’s Celta Vigo team look to play on the front foot, especially in front of a home crowd, even if this allows the opposition space to break into. With this in mind, Málaga could find themselves in receipt of numerous scoring opportunities at Balaídos on Sunday.

Given the fact that both of these two teams have plenty to offer going forward, but are lacking in any real defensive solidity – just one clean sheet between them in their respective home and away matches this season – a high-scoring match looks on the cards. At the prices, the visitors are well worth backing to score at least twice given the chances they are likely to get, while, at odds of 2/1, ‘Over 3.5 Goals’ is also too good to miss, especially since these two have seen four match goals go in more often than anyone else in La Liga during this campaign.

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