Aston Villa continue their unlikely Premier League title challenge in an away clash to Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium.
Victory by two goals or more would see Brentford climb to tenth in the table, whilst Villa can go top for a few hours at minimum if Arsenal lose elsewhere.
Team News
Nathan Collins could return for Brentford following his recovery from an ankle injury.
Rico Henry (knee), Kristoffer Ajer (foot), Bryan Mbeumo (ankle), Josh Dasilva, Aaron Hickey (both hamstring), Mathias Jensen, Kevin Schade (both adductor) and Ivan Toney (suspension) remain absent.
Aston Villa will be without Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz after the pair received their fifth domestic bookings during their win over Arsenal last weekend.
Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans (both knock) are doubts but Tyrone Mings (knee), Bertrand Traore (muscle) and Emiliano Buendia (ACL) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford host Aston Villa at 2pm GMT on Sunday 17 December at Gtech Community Stadium. untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford have claimed five points from their four previous Premier League meetings against Aston Villa (W1, D2, L1).
- Aston Villa are yet to win away at Brentford in the Premier League (D1, L1).
- Both teams have scored first in two of their four previous Premier League meetings.
- Brentford have scored three goals in three of their last four league games (W3, L1), only failing to do so in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
- Coming into this matchweek, Villa has scored a joint-high six league goals from outside of the box this season alongside Liverpool.
Prediction
Currently without several key players, Brentford should be disappointed to have not got a late draw at Sheffield Utd because they deserved a late penalty if not for an over-eager referee calling full time in a defeat where they missed Mbeumo’s presence and lacked much end product.
Villa meanwhile have done well to grind out wins over Manchester City and Arsenal in their last two league games, but I do expect them to be freshly prepared for this game after several players were rested for the scrappy Europa Conference League draw at Zinjski Mostar.
Thomas Frank’s Bees though are a difficult team to break down especially at home so Villa will need patience and a clinical end product, although I don’t see them losing this such is their current form at present even if this will be a close battle.
Prediction: Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa
Result: Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa
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