Champions League Betting Preview: Villareal v Celtic

Villareal v Celtic – Live on Sky Sports 2, STV & Setanta Sports Ireland. Kick off 7.45pm

With a record that reads, 0 wins, 1 draw and 14 defeats, it’s easy to see why bookies have Celtic as big as 15/2 (888 Sport, Bet Direct, Blue Sq, Stan James, VCBet) to claim their first ever away win in the Champions League group stages on their 16th attempt. However the Hoops faithful will be looking to an impressive pre-season win away to PSV Eindhoven when a change in formation from boss Gordon Strachan saw his side win comfortably 3-1 in a textbook away European performance. But whether Celtic can emulate that kind of display when it really matters remains to be seen.

Their opponents, Villareal, have made a good start to La Liga and sit 2nd top behind Valencia on goal difference with 13 points from 15. It all sounds impressive enough but when you consider that the only team they’ve played so far that finished in the top 8 last season is Santander (who are currently 2nd bottom) it’s no more than you’d expect. A big concern for boss Manuel Pellegrini is his side’s apparent lack of goals. They’ve only scored 7 in their opening 6 games of the season. That stat is of course countered by the fact that they’ve only conceded 2 so it’s hard to imagine a high scoring affair tonight.

With Celtic likely to go with a more defensively minded 4-5-1 formation it looks set to be a tight match and as long as their dubious back 4 can offer ‘keeper Artur Boruc some decent protection the Hoops might be capable of quietening the crowd at El Madrigal. As much as Strachan would love to break that away win duck he’d be just as delighted with a share of the spoils and the draw is available at 16/5 with Boylesports. If you do think Celtic can get something from the game then the safer option is to back them on the Asian Handicap where they’re available with a goal of a start (+1) at a generous 111/100 at Canbet.

I’ll be steering clear of betting on the outcome of the game and instead I’m more interested in the number of goals scored. Despite scoring for fun domestically Celtic’s recent away record of goals scored in Europe isn’t great – they’ve failed to find the net in their last 5 Champions League games on the road. That, coupled with Villareal’s relatively impotent start to the season, suggests to me that there’ll be few goals tonight. Under 2.5 goals is priced at 3/4 (Centrebet) and I’ll be having some of that.

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