Celta and Espanyol Enter Season With New Coaches
Espanyol kick off their 2018/19 La Liga campaign away to Celta at Balaidos stadium in Vigo. Both teams are entering the season with new coaches, so it is hard to predict what we can expect from them.
Celta are winless in their last five friendlies.
There have been under 2.5 goals scored in eight of Espanyol’s last 9 games.
At the end of last season Celta sacked coach Juan Carlos Unzue and appointed Argentine Antonio Mohamed instead of him. Mohamed’s appointment was a surprise, although he is experienced coach, but without any previous experience in Europe. During his coaching career the Argentine lead only clubs from his homeland and from Mexico, and last three years he was in Monterrey.
There is uncertainty about this Celta, especially after they failed to win in any of their last five pre-season games. They drew against Cordoba, Braga and Fulham, while they lost to Mainz and Southampton.
This summer Celta lost couple of very important players like left-back Jonny Castro (Atletico), central midfielder Daniel Wass (Valencia), center-back Sergi Gomez (Sevilla), center-forward John Guidetti (Alaves), center-back Andreu Fontas (Kansas City) and central midfielder Pablo Hernandez (Independiente). They did brought some fresh blood (Fran Beltran, Nestor Araujo, Okay Yokuslu, Sofiane Boufal), but it is about to be seen how they will all get together this season. Summer deals were financially very good for Celta, but it seems they look much weaker overall.
Unlike Celta, Espanyol were terrific during pre-season, and they recorded five wins in their last five friendlies. Maybe they didn’t play against the top opposition, but wins against Burnley and Borussia Monchengladbach need to be respected.
Center-forward Gerard Moreno left Espanyol this summer and his departure will be huge blow for the club as he scored almost half of their goals last season. From Celta they bought Borja Iglesias as his replacement, but this player was in Real Zaragoza on loan last season.
Same as Celta, Espanyol will also enter this season with a new coach as this summer they appointed Joan Ferrer, better known as Rubi. Rubi was last season in Huesca, and before he worked in Sporting Gijon and Levante.
Odds and Predictions
In normal circumstances I would give advantage to Celta, especially as they’re hosts, but I need to take into account their poor results during pre-season. Also, they lost couple of very important players. They did bring some substitutions, but simply I don’t think they’re of same quality. Third problem in my opinion is coach Mohamed. Yes, he is experienced guy, but previously he worked only in Argentina and Mexico.
On the other hand Espanyol were terrific during pre-season. They did lose their best attacker, but so far this have not bothered them. They also have a new coach, but Rubi is experienced coach who will not need time to adjust to La Liga.
All said, I’m taking Asian handicap +0.5 on Espanyol as I’m sure they can leave Vigo with at least one point.
Editor's Pick
Asian handicap +0.5 on Espanyol @1.95.
