Aston Villa F.C.
Celtic F.C.
Aston Villa F.C. vs. Celtic F.C. Prediction on January 29, 2025
Match info
Wednesday, January 29, at 8 p.m. local time, is the kickoff time for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League match between Aston Villa F.C. and Celtic F.C. at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, UK. This is the match in the eighth and final round of the group phase in Europe’s best men’s football club competition. According to the biggest bookmakers in Europe’s odds, the hosts are the clear favorites in the game, mostly because a victory would guarantee them a spot in the knockout stage.
Meeting statistics
The current form of Aston Villa F.C.
With 13 points from seven matches, the “Villans” will start this encounter in ninth place in the standings, just outside the zone, which secures a straight passage to the Round of 16. That’s because of their goal differential. They are aware that a victory over Celtic will automatically qualify them in the play-offs. Aston Villa have been playing well lately; in their previous five games, the Premier League side has won three, drawn one, and lost one. They’ve had one clean sheet while scoring seven goals and giving up five. However, the Birmingham-based team lost to Monaco 0-1 in their most recent UCL match, and they’ll try to avoid such a scenario when playing the dominant team from the nearby country. As said, Villa are big-time favorites here, with odds of 1.50 for the win on Fenikss. On the other hand, Celtic are 6.00. A draw is estimated at 4.00.
At his team’s last UCL game, manager Unai Emery started a good lineup, but they lost by a slim margin at Monaco. There were no fresh suspensions or injuries to report, which is the flip side of the fact that none of the players performed especially well in the match. But against Celtic, the Spanish coach will be missing four players. As they continue to heal from their injuries, Ross Barkley (calf), Pau Torres (foot), John McGinn (hamstring), and Amadou Onana (hamstring) will be sidelined.
The current form of Celtic F.C.
Celtic have 12 points from seven games, placing them in 18th place. In extremely rare cases, they can still make it to the top eight, but they must also be cautious about being eliminated from the play-offs entirely. The “Bhoys” have been playing well lately, winning four of their last five games in all competitions and drawing one. With 12 goals scored and five goals given up, the Glaswegians will use their recent success as motivation to win their next game.
In the most recent game, the squad led by manager Brendan Rodgers defeated Swiss Young Boys 1-0 with the strongest roster possible. Daizen Maeda received a straight red card and will miss the team’s next game. James Forrest will also be absent as he continues to heal from his foot injury.
Head-to-head
Surprisingly, these two teams have never faced off in the UEFA Champions League or anywhere else, despite their lengthy history of competing in and even winning the competition. Thus, Wednesday’s encounter will be Aston Villa and Celtic’s first-ever meeting.
Match analytics
Since this will be these teams’ first match, there’s no prior head-to-head record to compare them to. Both have also been playing well lately and haven’t shown any symptoms of breaking down. Because both sides will be vying for the win, this game could end in an exciting scoring draw in which both sides will score.
Tip: Match Result & Over/Under Goals – Draw And Over 2.5, with odds of 11.00 on Tote.