Celta vs Villarreal: La Liga Prediction (31.08.2025)

On 31 August 2025 at 17:00 CEST at the Balaídos Stadium in Vigo, Celta will host Villarreal in the third round of La Liga 2025/26. The hosts have played three matches so far, collecting only two points, while the visitors have won both of their opening games, scoring seven unanswered goals, and currently lead the La Liga table.

Despite these contrasting starts, bookmakers give roughly equal chances in Celta vs Villarreal. Odds: Celta to win – 2.72, draw – 3.65, Villarreal to win – 2.53. Experts expect medium scoring: over 2.5 goals is priced at 1.72, and “both teams to score” at 1.59.

Celta

Last season, Claudio Giráldez’s side finished seventh in La Liga – a respectable result given the competition. But the new campaign has started poorly. A 0:2 home defeat to Getafe in the opener highlighted how the sale of key players weakened their attacking potential.

That was followed by 1:1 draws against Mallorca and Real Betis. Dropping seven points early will surely hurt their final league position. Goalkeeping remains problematic – new signing Ionuț Radu from Venezia has not convinced in his first three appearances.

Villarreal

Villarreal, managed by Marcelino, are competing in the UEFA Champions League group stage this season. The summer transfers mainly focused on strengthening the defense, and early signs are positive. Although their first opponents weren’t the toughest, the “Yellow Submarine” handled them with ease: a 2:0 win over Real Oviedo followed by a 5:0 thrashing of Girona, with Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan scoring a hat-trick.

Head-to-head statistics

Since 2022, the teams have met seven times. Villarreal lead with 4 wins to Celta’s 2. Last season, Celta lost away 3:4 but took revenge at home with a convincing 3:0 win.

Prediction

In this matchup, the home team almost never loses. For that reason, our bet is: Celta not to lose at odds 1.57.