Aston Villa vs Celtic Prediction: Hosts to win but no clean sheet

Another midweek battle of Britain as Aston Villa and Celtic clash in Birmingham. The Villans host the Bhoys in this grandstand finish from the UEFA Champions League on matchday eight. Villa know a decisive home win would secure them a place in the top eight. But Celtic arrive in excellent form, preparing a late smash-and-grab on the prize places. TNT Sports 1 from 20:00 on Wednesday is where you'll find this one on UK TV.

Will Aston Villa use home advantage to secure a huge three points, or will Celtic party on English soil? Our in-form tipster, Frank Monkhouse, previews the clash and offers up his Aston Villa vs Celtic Predictions...

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Aston Villa enter ninth in the revamped Champions League table. The top eight progress to the knockout rounds, with places nine to 24 entering a playoff. The pressure is on home manager Unai Emery to ensure his side secure a strong home win to improve a place, avoiding the drama of the playoffs.

Villa have won four and drawn one of their seven outings in this competition, but just one of those victories show in their previous four games.

Celtic travel south of the border looking to end on a high, scoring another impressive win in this competition. Brendan Rodgers’ side arrive in 18th with a dozen points on the board, just one less than their hosts and the top eight.

The visitors are unbeaten in five, drawing three and winning two, including a 1-0 over Young Boys in Glasgow seven days ago. There’s all to play for at Villa Park.

Aston Villa vs Celtic Odds

Who are the traders picking as English and Scottish football renew rivalries on the big stage? Man Utd needed a stoppage-time winner to see off Rangers last Thursday. Can Celtic go one better and take victory back across the border?

Interestingly, the current betting has Aston Villa as red-hot favourites, offering 4/9 on the home win. That’s likely to appear in many midweek accumulators.

Will Emery’s side live up to expectations and brush off their opponents? They lost 1-0 away to Monaco last midweek, following that with a battle against a determined West Ham on Sunday evening. Storm damage at Parkhead meant Celtic enjoyed a weekend off, with their last outing being that hard-fought victory over the Swiss Super League champions.

Will the rest help their cause? Many Betfred members will think it’s worth finding out at the generous 9/2 offered on Celtic. The draw is 16/5 if you can’t split them.

Aston Villa win

I expect a slugfest in Birmingham, but home advantage will prove the deciding factor. Villa have the better squad, certainly on paper, and their manager knows how to get the best out of his men at this venue. They beat Bayern Munich 1-0 here in early October, thanks to Jhon Duran, who climbed off the bench to snatch a winner on 79 minutes. Villa also beat Bologna 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Juventus at this stadium.

The home team won’t get things all their own way on Wednesday, but if they are near their best, matching the efforts shown in the games mentioned, they should have enough quality to bank the win.

There’s value in the price to back Aston Villa as a single, or they’ll do a job in your multiples.

Both score and Aston Villa win

It’s guaranteed Celtic won’t go down without a fight. The Hoops have already qualified for the next round through the playoffs, and while they have a chance of gifting fans a top-eight finish, they’ll be firing on all cylinders.

Celtic are a team that doesn’t lack confidence, proving they belong at this level with three wins and three draws, scoring 11 and conceding 10.

A fully rested Celtic have found the net against Young Boys, Club Brugge, RB Leipzig (three times), and Borussia Dortmund. They also put five past Slovan Bratislava on matchday one.

The visiting attack has the quality to dent a home defense that has conceded three goals in their last two games in this competition. Back both teams to score in a Villa win, then sit back and enjoy what will be another fantastic advert for British football.

Frank Monkhouse covers Scottish Football for us here at Betfred Insights. You can check out all of his work along with that of the rest of our Football Betting Tips desk on our main Football page...