Celta de Vigo host Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio de Balaidos in a mid-table clash on Saturday afternoon with Los Vallecanos looking to move into the top half of the table with a win.
After Barcelona slotted six goals past Los Vallecanos at the Camp Nou, Rayo went on a three match winning streak. Although two of those matches were against clubs in the relegation zone, Granada and Eibar, Paco Jemez's club managed to beat Malaga 1-0 in the middle of that three game stretch. That run ended, unfortunately, with a 0-2 loss to Real Madrid with goals coming from Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez. Hopefully that loss did not hurt their confidence because the result was expected considering their opposition last weekend.
Alberto Bueno has been superb this season for Rayo Vallecano. At 27 years of age, the local product is having his best season by a mile, having found the back of the net 17 times in all competitons -- 16 of them have come in the league. Although he may not the biggest of forwards, he can use his speed to get in behind one versus one with the goal keeper and that is what he does best.
Celta de Vigo has found it hard of late to get any points having only picked up four in their last five matches. Three of those points came from their match with Levante in which a strike from Charles in the 86th minute stole victory late. Other than that, however, Vigo has struggled mightly. Losses against Villarreal, Athletic Club, and Barcelona have aided in their slipping down the table as they now sit in 12th. This has been the sky blues campaign in a nutshell as they have nine wins, nine ties, and 12 losses to date.
The key factor behind all of the inconsistent play is thanks to their inablity to put the ball into the back of the net. Celta has only scored 30 goals in 30 matches thus far. That is an average of one goal a game which is certainly not good enough by any means; especially when you allow three more goals than you have scored. If Celta de Vigo are going to win this match it will most likely come off of a set piece opportunity as they just do not have about themselves in the attacking third of the pitch.