Brentford hosts Aston Villa at the Gtech Community Stadium in what is a battle of 11th versus 10th in the Premier League standings.
Date: 08/03/2025
Location: Gtech Community Stadium
Time: 17:30pm
As previously mentioned, Villa won the return fixture 3-1 back on 4th December as goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash saw Emery’s side race into a 3-0 lead after just 34 minutes, before Mikkel Damsgaard pulled back what turned out to be a mere consolation goal for the Bees in the 54th-minute.
The Bees are having another solid campaign, as they are four points behind 10th-place Villa with a game in hand, ultimately seeing them consolidate their place in the top-flight for another season when perhaps some people had their doubts about them having sold talismanic forward Ivan Toney to Al-Ahli for £40m last summer.
Thomas Frank’s side didn’t feature in the FA Cup last season as they exited the competition to Plymouth Argyle in the Third Round (1-0), while in the League Cup, they were defeated 3-1 in the quarter-finals by Newcastle United after advancing past Sheffield Wednesday (5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw), Leyton Orient (3-1) and Colchester United (1-0).
On the other hand, Villa currently sit five points adrift of fourth-place Manchester City, meaning that they will need a strong run of form between now and the end of the season if they are to re-qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
The Villains have impressed in Europe’s premier competition, as they earned themselves an eighth-place finish in the Group Stage having earned 16 points from eight matches, with their most impressive victory being a memorable 1-0 home win over Bayern Munich on 2nd October.
In terms of domestic cup competitions, Villa were knocked out of the League Cup in the Fourth Round by Crystal Palace, however, they are of the favourites to win the FA Cup, as they face Preston North End in the quarter-finals of that competition, having beaten the likes of West Ham (2-1), Tottenham (2-1) and Cardiff City (2-0).
