Aston Villa vs Celtic Prediction

🔊 Which team will advance to the Champions League playoffs from a higher position? Currently, Aston Villa is ahead of Celtic by one point. Therefore, they are much closer to the top eight, which will skip the first round of the playoffs. Considering the busy schedule, especially for the English team, it is worth fighting for victory at Villa Park stadium. On our part, we will consider different options to make the prediction optimal.

📊 Head-to-Head

The opponents have not met before.

🦁 Aston Villa

Aston Villa was leading the Champions League standings for some time. They even defeated Bayern at home (1:0). However, the team is not in the best form right now. For example, last week they lost fairly to Monaco away (0:1), leaving the top eight. Before that, the Birmingham team dropped points in matches against Juventus (0:0) and Brugge (0:1). Unai Emery's side is also struggling in the Premier League, where they are only in eighth place. Aston Villa regularly loses points, although a recent draw with Arsenal can be considered a success (2:2). However, last weekend they failed to beat West Ham (1:1), which was logical given the game. It should be noted that the team has personnel losses in defense. In light of this, the sale of Diego Carlos to Fenerbahce raises questions. Meanwhile, Unai Emery decided to strengthen the attack by acquiring Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund. It should be noted that defenders Mings and Torres will not play in the upcoming match due to injuries. There are also losses in midfield - Onana and Barkley.

🍀 Celtic

Celtic is the leader of the Scottish championship. They are 10 points ahead of Rangers and have a game in hand. Moreover, the team skipped a round last weekend to better prepare for the last match of the group stage of the Champions League. The Scots were frankly lucky with the draw. The only truly serious opponent was Borussia Dortmund, from whom Celtic suffered their only defeat, but what a defeat it was (1:7). In other cases, they looked much better in defense, conceding only three goals in the remaining six matches. Last week, the team kept a clean sheet, defeating Young Boys only thanks to an own goal (1:0). On the other hand, before that, the "Celts" failed to convert a penalty, so they deserved three points. However, towards the end of the match, Daizen Maeda received a red card and will not play against Aston Villa. Also, do not expect injured Forrest, Holm, and Jota on the field.

🟨 Referee and Yellow Cards

The main referee for the match is Clément Turpin (France). This season he has officiated four Champions League matches including qualifications. In two of them, he awarded penalties. At the same time, he averaged only 21 fouls and showed 3.5 yellow cards per game.

Both teams approach the match with low trends on yellow cards. For instance, Celtic received no more than two yellow cards in 6 out of their last 7 Champions League matches. The same applies to 6 out of 7 home games for Aston Villa. Considering the referee's statistics, we recommend choosing a total yellow cards under 4.5.

⚽️ Goal Prediction

If we do not consider the thrashing by Borussia Dortmund, Celtic plays quite well in defense. At least in the remaining matches, they conceded an average of 0.5 goals. On the other hand, Aston Villa has not scored more than two goals in 10 consecutive games. It is unlikely that they will exceed this mark in the upcoming match. Therefore, we suggest betting on total goals for the hosts under 2.5.

🚩 Corner Prediction

Celtic has an advantage in corners in the Champions League - 6.6 compared to 4.6. However, Aston Villa is considered the favorite by this metric. This should definitely be taken advantage of by trusting the statistics. Therefore, as a potential bet, we note Celtic to win on corners with a handicap (+2.5).

📝 Match Prediction

Aston Villa is the favorite for the upcoming match. However, they are clearly not in their best form. With a large number of matches, injuries are increasing. The players lack freshness, while Celtic has been specifically preparing for this match for a whole week by skipping a round in their national championship. Therefore, they have every chance to earn points in the upcoming match, perhaps drawing 1:1.

Aston Villa has a class advantage, so goals are expected from them. On the other hand, over their last 11 matches across all competitions, they have kept a clean sheet only against Everton. Therefore, a goal from Celtic can also be expected. In such a situation, as a key bet we choose both teams to score (Yes). Moreover, this bet has won in five consecutive matches at Villa Park.