Aston Villa vs. Brentford: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Villa's form has fallen off a cliff as they come into this game winless in their last eight games in all competitions. They should be sitting ducks for this Brentford side, but the Bees have been awful away from home, drawing one and losing five of their six away games in the league this season.

Despite their poor form, Villa are still tough to beat on home soil having gone unbeaten in their last five league games at Villa Park. All of Villa's last three home league games have ended in a draw, while two of the last three head-to-head encounters between the two have finished level. Both teams to score has also occurred in four of Villa's last five league games at home and four of Brentford's last five league games on the road. Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford.

Aston Villa take on Brentford in the Premier League this week as Unai Emery's side search for a sorely-needed win.

• Date: 04/12/2024
• Kick-off time: 20:15
• Location: Villa Park, Birmingham

Villa fans have been riding a wave of euphoria for the last year, but the first few months of this season have been a sobering experience. Having finished in 4th place last season, Villa are currently 12th in the league table with 19 points, and they come into this game amidst a terrible run of form. Emery's men started the campaign well, but as soon as Champions League football kicked in, Villa's league form slowly started to slide, and they now find themselves falling further and further adrift of the European places.

Villa invested heavily in their squad in the summer, but injuries (mainly to midfielder Amadou Onana) have been a limiting factor in their performances this season, and as so many teams do, they're really struggling to juggle both Premier League football and Champions League football, something that so many sides inexperienced on the European stage have difficulties dealing with.

The underlying numbers in Villa's attacking player will be a concern to Emery, with his side currently ranking 16th in the league for expected goals per game - a rate of 1.31xG per game. Creatively, Villa are really lacking, and that's reflected by the fact they're currently scoring over 25% fewer goals in the league than they did last season.

Villa have the quality at hand to rectify their situation, but as we saw with Newcastle last season, it's extremely tough to navigate the Premier League and the Champions League simultaneously when you have little experience of doing so. They're in dire need of a win here, but they've shown little of late that suggests they're capable of getting it.

Brentford currently sit 8th in the league with 20 points from 13 games. In contrast to Villa, the Bees are flying in the league and have improved tenfold off the back of a poor campaign last time out. Under Thomas Frank, Brentford are arguably the most enjoyable team to watch in the entire Premier League as they come into this game having scored 26 goals in the league - the same number as Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City - while conceding 23 times. Put simply, a Brentford game is a guarantee of goals.

The number of goals the team has conceded will be pretty displeasing to Frank, though, whose team is usually prided on their tight defensive structure. Nevertheless, defensive shortcomings are easier to rectify than attacking deficiencies, so the overall picture from a Bees perspective is a very positive one.

Central to Brentford's attacking exploits have been Bryan Mbeumo and Yoan Wissa. One of the most potent duos in the league, Mbeumo and Wissa have eight goals each, a rate bettered only by Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Chris Wood.

How far Brentford can go this season will depend on whether or not they can solve their defensive issues. As good as Mbeumo and Wissa are, it's unlikely they'll be able to score enough goals to make up for the fact that Brentford currently have the worst expected goals against rate (currently 1.82xGA per game) in the whole league. They also need to improve their away form drastically, and given the run Villa are currently on, they won't have a better chance to claim a big scalp on the road this season.

This game will be aired live to all subscribed UK viewers on Amazon.

Aston Villa Team News:

Aston Villa come into this game without Jacob Ramsey, who remains out with a hamstring injury, while Amadou Onana is a doubt.

Emiliano Martínez is also a major doubt for this game after coming off with an injury at Stamford Bridge at the weekend, so Robin Olsen could start in goal.

Predicted lineup: Olsen; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Barkley, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.

Brentford Team News:

Kristoffer Ajer, Gustavo Nunes, Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey will all miss out for Brentford once again, while Mathias Jensen is a doubt after coming off with an injury at the weekend.

Vitaly Janelt will likely come in for Jensen in midfield, but that should be the only change to the weekend's starting lineup.

Predicted lineup: Flekken; Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa.

Aston Villa come into this game amidst a really poor run of form having failed to win any of their last eight games. Most recently, Villa were soundly beaten 3-0 at Stamford Bridge by Chelsea in what was a fairly soft showing.

Before that, Villa drew 0-0 with Juventus in the Champions League, a result that followed a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace, where Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley grabbed the goals.

Those results came after a 2-0 loss to Liverpool and a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Club Brugge in the Champions League.

Brentford's form reads much healthier as they enter this game with three wins, one draw and one loss from their last five games in the league. The Bees took on Leicester City at the weekend and emerged victorious in a resounding 4-1 win, with a hat-trick from Kevin Schade and a Yoane Wissa goal sealing the result.

Prior to that, Brentford drew 0-0 away at Everton, a game in which the Bees were reduced to ten men in the first half as Christian Nørgaard was shown red. That result was preceded by a 3-2 win over Bournemouth, courtesy of a Wissa brace and a goal from Mikkel Damsgaard, which came after a 2-1 loss to Fulham and a 4-3 win over Ipswich, where Wissa (X2) and Bryan Mbeumo (X2) claimed the goals.

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