Former Celtic and Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov is looking forward to January’s Champions League showdown between his two former clubs – Celtic and Aston Villa.

Petrov, who enjoyed successful spells at both clubs, sees the fixture as a highlight of the competition and believes several Celtic stars could thrive in Aston Villa’s lineup.

Speaking to Football365, Petrov praised Celtic’s standout performers, identifying five players he feels would fit seamlessly into Unai Emery’s Villa side.

“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 , the way he plays, he is very positive in his movement.

“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.”

There is certainly a debate to be had, but I don’t think Kyogo would get in the Villa side ahead of Ollie Watkins, who has been a brilliant player consistently over the years for the club.

The meetup will be the last game of the 8-game league, and Celtic could be in a good position.

It will be interesting to see how Celtic perform against a Premier League side.

In recent years, Brendan Rodgers has performed well with a Celtic side against English sides.

He oversaw a 3-3 and 1-1 draw against Man City last time he was in charge, with a team he believes was slower than his current bunch.

Speaking earlier on Thursday, Rodgers compared the invincible side to the squad he has just now but urged players to create their own history.