The Premier League returns from a long and tense international break, as the action comes quickly and fast and on Saturday, two teams who have European aspirations this season meet at Villa Park as Aston Villa take on Brentford.
The Villains have had their usual slow start to the campaign, accompanied by losing a huge bulk of their starting eleven over the summer, so teething problems were expected by Unai Emery's new-look Aston Villa side. Aston Villa are 16th in the Premier League, having only won once in their five matches played thus far. However, the international break came at the wrong time for the hosts, as the Villains had won their last two matches in all competitions with a first league win against Tottenham Hotspur (2-3) and an EFL Cup victory against Coventry City (1-3). Defensively, the home side still has issues with no clean sheets in their previous five matches, as they take on a Brentford side who can certainly show their attacking intent in this fixture.
Keith Andrews continues to produce excellent results for Brentford this season, as the Bees occupy a Champions League place after five games played, with 9 points from 15 available this campaign. Brentford are unbeaten in the Premier League this season, but have drawn three of their last five league games before beating Chelsea (3-0) prior to the International break. In fact, the visitors are on an 11-game unbeaten run which dates back to last season, with their last defeat in the Premier League taking place against Manchester City back in May.
Brentford have scored first in each of their previous 9 matches and for this fixture we are tipping the BTTS market. BTTS has occurred in the last five games involving Aston Villa and in five of the previous six involving Brentford.
Kevin Schade is in great form in the Premier League, so expect him to have a considerable impact in this fixture, as the German forward has scored three goals in five games thus far.
Ultimately, with Villa showing improvement before the break and with Brentford in fine form themselves, we are going for a four-goal thriller at Villa Park.
Aston Villa 2-2 Brentford
