Aston Villa v Celtic: Team news, referee details, KO details & where to watch

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The Celtic Star

·29 de enero de 2025

Aston Villa v Celtic: Team news, referee details, KO details & where to watch

Celtic face Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening. The Scottish Champions have already qualified for the next phase of the UCL but could gain passage to Last 16 with a win in Birmingham.

A large Celtic support has travelled to ‘the second city’ for the game despite a small amount of tickets being made available for the game. Villa are preparing for a large following of Celts and have intimated that there will be a heavy police presence around Villa Park.

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD8 training. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Team News

Celtic go into the game with a number of absences from last weekend. Kasper Schmeichel starts in goals. The Celtic No.1 has experienced Villa Park many times and will be relishing the return to a Premier League ground.

Brendan will be without Cameron Carter-Vickers in defence after the manager confirmed the USA Internationalist had picked up a knock during the win over BSC Young Boys. This will likely mean that Liam Scakes will come into the team to partner Auston Trusty.

Alex Valle returned to Barcelona and is set to be loaned out to Como after Celtic agreed to terminate his loan deal. Adam Montgomery will likely take his place on the bench with Greg Taylor continuing. Alistair Johnston starts at right back.

Callum McGregor will captain the side in the middle of the park and will likely be accompanied by Reo Hatate and Arne Engels in the middle of the park. Paulo Bernardo is another contender to start in the middle but Brendan will want to set up his team to be rigid in defence and aggressive in attack.

There will be no Kyogo from the side that won last week. The Japanese striker completed a £10m switch to Rennes during the week as Celtic confirmed the re-signing of Jota. Unfortunately, the 25-year-old will be unable to make his second debut as he is not registered in Celtic’s UCL squad.

Jota at training. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Daizen Maeda is suspended for the game after his late red card last weekend. The attacker’s absence will mean that Adam Idah starts through the middle. Yang will likely come into the team to play in the wide areas.

The team looks fairly light given the injuries and absences. The club will be keen to strengthen in the coming days before the window shuts.

Predicted XI: Schmeichel; Taylor, Trusty, Scales, Johnston; McGregor, Hatate, Bernardo; Kühn, Idah, Yang.

Match Officials

French referee Clement Turpin has been appointed to take charge of the meeting at Villa Park. Turpin will be assisted by Nicolas Danos and Benjamin Pages with Romain Lissorgue acting as Fourth Official.

Meanwhile, French referee Jérôme Brisard is operating as VAR with Netherlands official Rob Dieperink assisting.