Aston Villa and Celtic will be eager to clinch a top-eight finish in the UEFA Champions League when they clash at Villa Park on Wednesday.
The curtains will fall on the first phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. All 18 matches, including Aston Villa vs Celtic, will come our way simultaneously, with both teams having the chance to clinch a top-eight finish and secure automatic qualification to the round of 16.
Aston Villa and Celtic have been two of the most impressive teams in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League. While nine spots separate the sides, the Villans are only ahead of Celtic by a point. Meanwhile, the visitors have lost just one game thus far in Europe, and they will fancy their prospects of clinching a crucial victory at Villa Park.
Aston Villa’s most recent UEFA Champions League outing was a 1-0 defeat to AS Monaco, with the result dropping them to ninth in the standings. On the other hand, Celtic beat BSC Young Boys 1-0 despite being a man down, with the victory taking them to 18th on the table.
Unai Emery’s charges come into this game on the back of a frustrating 1-1 draw against West Ham United, with the East London outfit coming from a goal down to hold the Villans to a stalemate. As for Celtic, the away side had the weekend off, and Brendan Rodgers will be delighted with having his players more rested.
Wednesday’s clash will be the first-ever match featuring Aston Villa and Celtic, and The Hard Tackle looks closer at the UEFA Champions League encounter ahead of the maiden meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Aston Villa
Unai Emery has a new injury concern hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Aston Villa manager will be bereft of the services of as many as four first-team players vs Celtic on Wednesday.
Tyrone Mings is the latest absentee after picking up a knee injury this past weekend against West Ham United. The English defender has joined Pau Torres (foot), Amadou Onana (hamstring), and Ross Barkley (calf) on the sidelines.
Emiliano Martinez will take his spot between the sticks, with Aston Villa lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Celtic on Wednesday. The backline should feature Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Boubacar Kamara, and Ian Maatsen, with Kamara starting as a makeshift centre-back.
As for the midfield unit, captain John McGinn should join Youri Tielemans in the double pivot. Morgan Rogers will reprise the no. 10 role, with Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey being the two wide attackers. Finally, Ollie Watkins will lead the line for Aston Villa against Celtic on Wednesday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Kamara, Maatsen; Tielemans, McGinn; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
Celtic
Like his counterpart in the Aston Villa dugout, Brendan Rodgers has a new roster issue to worry about ahead of the trip to Villa Park. The Celtic manager will be without three first-team players on Wednesday.
Daizen Maeda is the latest absentee after seeing red last week against BSC Young Boys. The Japanese international has joined James Forrest (foot) and Odin Thiago Holm (calf) on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Kyogo Furuhashi has joined Stade Rennais.
Kasper Schmeichel will take his spot between the sticks, with Celtic lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Aston Villa on Wednesday. The backline should feature Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, and Greg Taylor.
As for the midfield unit, Arne Engels and Reo Hatate should accompany Callum McGregor in the middle of the park, providing defensive support to the Scottish midfielder. Finally, Adam Idah should spearhead the Celtic attack against Aston Villa on Wednesday, Nicolas Kuhn and Luis Palma being the two wide attackers.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Idah, Palma
Key Stats
- Aston Villa and Celtic will meet for the very first time; the Villans’ only previous European fixture against a fellow British club came in 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying, winning 8-0 on aggregate against Hibernian.
- Celtic have drawn their last three games against English opposition in the UEFA Champions League, drawing 1-1 at the Etihad with Manchester City in their most recent game in December 2016. Only one Scottish side has ever won away from home against an English opponent in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, with Celtic beating Leeds United in April 1970 (1-0). Since then, English sides have gone unbeaten across the seven such fixtures (W5 D2).
- Celtic have qualified beyond the group stage/league phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2012/13. The Hoops have won three matches in the competition this term, last winning more in a European Cup/Champions League edition in 1973/74 (4) when they reached the semi-finals.
- Aston Villa were beaten away to AS Monaco on Matchday 7 in the UEFA Champions League (0-1). However, Unai Emery has not lost consecutive games in the group/league phase of the competition since the 2015/16 campaign with Sevilla (Villa are the third side he has managed in the competition since then).
- Brendan Rodgers has won nine of his 19 career meetings with Aston Villa (D4 L6), with Crystal Palace (10 wins) being the only English side he has recorded more victories over in the dugout.
Player to Watch
Ollie Watkins
Adam Idah, Nicolas Kuhn, and Morgan Rogers were viable candidates for this section, but we have picked Ollie Watkins as our Player to Watch for Wednesday’s clash. The English international will be eager to return to his best after recent frustrating showings.
In addition, Watkins is still looking for his first UEFA Champions League goal for Aston Villa (seven appearances, 10 shots). So, with Jhon Duran making his mark and threatening to wrest the first-choice striker’s berth away from him, the 29-year-old will be keen on rediscovering his best form.
Prediction
Aston Villa 2-2 Celtic
Two teams with high aspirations lock horns this week in the UEFA Champions League, with a spot in the top eight on the line. While Aston Villa and Celtic have confirmed their places in the top 24, automatic qualification to the round of 16 will be on the agenda on Wednesday.
So, an end-to-end game is on the cards, and we should see top-notch chance creation from both sides. However, Celtic’s away record is underwhelming, with the Hoops winning only one of their last 21 games on the road in the UEFA Champions League (D5 L15). In addition, they are winless in 11 since beating Anderlecht in September 2017 (3-0).
However, the visitors have avoided defeat in their two most recent away outings, drawing 0-0 against both Atalanta and Dinamo Zagreb. With Brendan Rodgers’s team hard to beat, Aston Villa might struggle to grab three points, although they are not in danger of losing Wednesday’s tie. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-2 draw between the two top-eight hopefuls.
