Stan Petrov names 5 Celtic stars who would walk into Aston Villa's team

Celtic hero Stiliyan Petrov reckons five players from the current Celtic crop would get into Aston Villa’s line-up.

The pair meet in late January in the newly revamped Champions League, with the new format treating both clubs well. Unai Emery’s side are currently eight, just inside the automatic qualification points, with Celtic 15th, in the playoff spots.

There’s always talk about what players from Old Firm sides could have an impact down south, and Petrov is in a unique position to judge this one, given he played over 200 games for Villa and the Hoops respectively. The midfielder reckons two of the current Celtic Park midfield contingent would get in the English Premier League side, alongside two attackers, and a defender.

READ MORE: Christian Eriksen tipped for Celtic transfer as ex Manchester United star insists 'it makes sense'

READ MORE: Peter Lawwell shuts down Celtic blogger who has 'unhealthy obsession' during fiery AGM exchange

Speaking to Football365, he said: “You’ve got Alistair Johnston. You’ve got Callum McGregor, who is an incredible midfielder.

“[Daizen] Maeda, not many teams would turn down his energy, the way he plays. Kyogo [Furuhashi], the way he plays, he is very positive in his movement.

“[Reo] Hatate, he is really maturing, he’s getting stronger and stronger, scoring and creating goals, he is a box-to-box midfielder and you don’t see many midfielders like that at the moment. Many of those players can be in that (Aston Villa) team.

“I am looking forward to that game because there are two great managers, two attacking teams and I think it will be a cracking game because there is a lot of space to be exploited, a lot of speed, a lot of good technical players. I’m looking forward to that game."