Brentford host Aston Villa at Gtech Community Stadium in a crunch clash in the race for European qualification.
Victory would see Brentford stay ninth in the table, whilst Villa can stay sixth with a win but move level on points with fifth-placed Tottenham.
Team News
Brentford have no fresh injury concerns to report after their defeat at Wolves, with manager – Thomas Frank likely to name an unchanged line-up.
Pontus Jansson (hamstring), Kristoffer Ajer (calf) and Keane Lewis-Potter (knee) remain absent.
Aston Villa have no fresh injury concerns to report after beating Newcastle last weekend.
Leon Bailey (hamstring), Boubacar Kamara (foot), Philippe Coutinho (muscle), Matty Cash (muscle) and Jed Steer (Achilles) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford host Aston Villa at Gtech Community Stadium at 3pm BST on Saturday 22 April, albeit untelevised in UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford are unbeaten in two of their three previous Premier League meetings against Aston Villa (W1, D1, L1).
- Aston Villa lost 2-1 in their only previous Premier League visit to Brentford in January 2022.
- Villa are looking to achieve a league double over Brentford for the first time since 1946-47 season.
- Thomas Frank’s Bees are looking to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time since a five-match losing run between January – February 2022.
- Ollie Watkins has been involved in 20 league goals for Villa this season, having scored 14 goals and produced six assists in 30 appearances.
Prediction
With their European dreams all but over, Brentford now are in a position where they can play a part in determining the end-of-season fates of other teams across the remainder of their run-in.
Thomas Frank’s Bees though have to cut out their defensive errors which has simply been their downfall in their last three matches, because they’ve otherwise played well although their end product seems to have dipped with just one goal in their last three games.
That goal however came from the penalty spot against Newcastle rather than open play underlining the seriousness of their open play issues in attack, because they are still creative in their buildup but just seem to lack that final touch.
Aston Villa meanwhile are now serious contenders for a top-four finish especially after how they outclassed Newcastle last weekend, with a complete performance at both ends of the pitch although they could of scored more goals if their end product had been tidier.
This game though is a huge opportunity because if Newcastle and Tottenham draw on Sunday, Villa will be right in the mix if they can get the win in West London especially given how tougher their run-in gets from now onwards.
Brentford though won’t make this an easy task but if Villa play with the same intensity and control as they did against Newcastle, I fancy them to claim victory over the Bees but this game should a cracker if close.
Prediction: Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa
Result: Brentford 1-1 Aston Villa
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