Celta de Vigo
- Celta Vigo have won 3 of their last 5 games, drawing 1 and losing 1 (W3, D1, L1).
- Celta are 6th in LaLiga with 40 points from 27 games, but have proven themselves to be a very solid and dangerous attacking side under coach Claudio Giráldez.
Olympique Lyon
- Olympique Lyon have won 1 of their last 5 matches (W1, L2, D1) plus a penalty shootout win in the Coupe de France.
- Olympique Lyon are 4th in Ligue 1 with 45 points from 24 matches and, although they have a tendency to draw games, their recent form has been a little patchy with a 1-1 draw against Paris FC at home and a 2-3 defeat at Marseille in their most recent away game.
Head-to-Head
Celta de Vigo and Olympique Lyonnais will face off for the first time in European competition this week and although the Spanish side are slight favorites, there’s little to separate the two clubs in terms of overall quality and this 2025-26 UEFA Europa League tie should still be up in the air heading into the return leg in Lyon.
Key Players
Key players:
- Celta de Vigo will look to push wide, create overloads in the channels and transition quickly with a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system that they will look to exploit in the opposition third.
- Lyon favour a similar system, but will rather overload centrally, play with the ball more and defend in a mid-block when out of possession, pressing only in specific areas to force turnovers.
- In terms of personnel, Celta’s greatest threat is veteran forward Iago Aspas who is always a threat to pop up with a goal, while Lyon have more variety up front in the form of Endrick and Pavel Sulc.
- But Lyon’s midfield is led by Corentin Tolisso, a tall, strong player who makes late runs and is a threat from distance.
- Celta have a similarly strong ball-playing midfielder in Williot Swedberg, who has delivered key assists and goals in the Europa League.
- Borja Iglesias will be the main goal threat for Celta, and the home side can score goals.
- Iago Aspas
- Endrick
- Pavel Sulc
- Corentin Tolisso
- Williot Swedberg
- Borja Iglesias
Betting Insights
- Celta Vigo (2.18) and Lyon (3.54) are priced similarly as favourites for Thursday’s Europa League match, with the draw (3.63) looking tempting.
- The ‘Both teams to score’ bet is heavily favored here at 1.67 and looks a very tempting bet for Thursday’s Europa League game.
Prediction
I’m favoring a home win with the possibility of a goal-heavy 2-2 draw also appealing.
