Aston Villa team news vs Celtic confirmed as Unai Emery makes one change
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has selected his starting XI to face Celtic in the Champions League this evening.
He has made one change from the side which drew 1-1 against West Ham as Lamare Bogarde comes in for Tyrone Mings. Ollie Watkins leads the line with Jhon Duran named on the bench.
From back to front, Emi Martinez starts in goal behind a defence of Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Bogarde and Lucas Digne. Boubacar Kamara will play alongside Youri Tielemans in the double pivot, while Leon Bailey operates on the right and Jacob Ramsey on the left as Morgan Rogers supports Watkins in attack.
READ MORE: Aston Villa 'on the verge' of transfer agreement amid mega bids for Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins
READ MORE: Breaking: Aston Villa confirm transfer as £17m clause revealed
LIVE | Aston Villa vs Celtic LIVE match updates from Champions League clash
READ | Ollie Watkins to Arsenal transfer shock as Aston Villa respond
Villa are targeting their fifth league phase victory, which could secure them a place in the top eight of the table. If they were to beat Celtic tonight, they'd need one of Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen to fail to win their final league phase games to bank automatic qualification for the round of 16.
Villa could also finish above Leverkusen if they better the German side's winning margin against Sparta Praha by two or more goals. Fourth-placed Inter could also be caught by Villa if they lose to Monaco. But it would be the Ligue 1 side replacing Inter in the top eight if they were to win by two more goals than Villa.
Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Bogarde, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Olsen, Zych, McGinn, Duran, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Swinkels, Patterson, Young.
Celtic XI: Schmeichel, Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Taylor, McGregor, Engels, Hatate, Kuhn, Yang, Idah.
Subs: Sinisalo, Bain, Palma, McCowan, Nawrocki, Bernardo, Montgomery, Murray, Cummings, Ralston.