Next Saturday, 21st of February 2015, a super motivated Celta de Vigo will measure forces with their neighbours and rivals of Deportivo La Coruña at Riazor for round 24 of the Spanish Liga BBVA. The Derbi Galego will take place with both teams separated in the league table by just four points and after a row of matches during which both Depor and Celta displayed some very entertaining football.

Last Sunday, Celta had another memorable night at Los Balaidos where they overcame La Liga’s current champions, Atlético Madrid, by 2-0. The Galician team put up a fantastic overall performance and fully deserved their win at the end of the match. The usual suspects, Nolito and Orellana, netted in Los Celestes’ goals and granted their team’s seventh win of the season. Celta had an excellent first-half with plenty opportunities to score but the first goal only came in the second-half when Nolito converted a penalty on the 59th minute. Atlético’s players and their manager, Diego Simeone, weren’t happy with the referee’s decision, who failed to see Augusto Fernandez’s handball just before he assisted Nolito, who ended up by suffering a harsh tackle by Mario Suarez when inside the box. Although Atlético tried to bounce back immediately, it was Celta who nailed the second one after a well placed shot from Fábian Orellana.

With Eduardo “Toto” Berizzo following the match from the stands due to suspension, Celta gave their manager plenty of reasons to smile as they seemed to have returned to that excellent and highly confident moment they had earlier this season.

For the upcoming complicated match at Riazor, Celta’s Argentinean manager will still not be able to rely on the services of Borja Oubiña and Hugo Mallo, who remain sidelined due to their respective long-term injuries.

As for Depor, their quality recent streak came to an abrupt end at Santiago Bernabéu last Saturday, where they were defeated by Real Madrid. The Galician team made, nevertheless, a fairly good image of themselves and enjoyed from good chances of scoring, especially during the first-half.

Before that clash, Victor Fernandez’s boys were having an excellent period with two wins in three matches, something that had allowed them to escape from the relegation zone.

For the Derbi Galego, the Zaragoza born manager will probably still not be able to rely on the services of Helder Postiga, German Lux, Diogo Salomão, Sidnei, Toche and Farina, all currently sidelined due to injury.

It is hard to name any favourites for a derby as frantic as this, but, if we have in mind Celta’s last weekend win over Atlético and the motivation such win has injected in the team, we can offer Celta slight favouritism for next Saturday’s match.

Deportivo La Coruña

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - LWWDL

Celta

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

Recent Form - WDWLL

Possible Line-ups

Deportivo La Coruña (4-3-3) - Fabri - Laure - Lopo - Pablo - Luisinho - Bergantinos - Borges - Cuenca - Perez - Cavaleiro - Riera

Celta de Vigo (4-3-3) - Sérgio Álvarez - Jonny - Fontas - Gomez - Cabral - Augusto - Radoja - Krohn Dehli - Orellana - Nolito - Larrivey

Prediction

Deportivo La Coruña 1 Celta de Vigo 2