The duel between the two Norwegian LaLiga scorers, the Celtic Jørgen Strand Larsen and the Villarreal striker Alexander Sørloth, star in this Sunday’s clash in Balaídos, where Celta is looking for a vital victory for its permanence and Marcelino García Toral’s team to improve its chances of reaching a European place.
From Iago Aspas against Gerard Moreno, two of the four Spanish footballers to win the Zarra trophy in recent years – four won by the Galician attacker and two by the Catalan -, Celta-Villarreal has moved on to the fight between the Vikings Larsen and Sørloth, offensive references of their respective teams.
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Teammates in the national team, where they live in the shadow of Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Celta and Villarreal’s top scorers are experiencing their breakout year in LaLiga. With eleven goals, the young light blue striker is fighting to finish among the top ten scorers in LaLiga, where he reached last season backed by his numbers at Dutch club FC Groningen.
Sørloth, for his part, is in the race with Bellingham (Real Madrid, 17 goals) and Lewandowski (Barcelona, 16) for snatching the Pichichi trophy from Girona’s Ukrainian striker, Artem Dovbyk (19 goals).
After serving a suspension in the defeat against Deportivo Alavés, Larsen will regain ownership in the attack of Celta against his favorite victim, since so far he has scored all three times he has faced Villarreal. It will not be the only change made by Claudio Giráldez, willing to shake up his eleven after the Mendizorroza debacle.
Villarreal’s European options
Villarreal travels to Vigo with the intention of maintain its current pace of results and the escalation it has experienced in recent weekssince the people of Castellón are still determined to try to reach a European place.
The ‘groguet’ team starts the day ninth with 45 points, four points behind Betis, which right now occupies seventh place, the last one that would give the right to compete in European competitions as long as Athletic remains in the European zone.
Marcelino’s men have played thirteen games with only one defeat, but despite this good streak that has allowed them to add 19 of the last 24 points that have been put into play, it seems They still need an almost immaculate final stretch of the league to reach the goal of seventh place.
The sports chapter highlights theto the loss of Gerard Moreno, who has finally not recovered from his physical discomfort and who joins Bertrand Traoré to the usual losses of Denis Suárez, Yeremy Pino and Juan Foyth. Alfonso Pedraza has trained with discomfort all week and will be a doubt.