Brentford look to ignite their outside chance of European qualification against Aston Villa in a huge Premier League encounter.
Victory will see Brentford stay 11th and move to within one point of Villa, whilst Unai Emery’s Villains can move up to sixth if Brighton and Fulham draw in their clash.
Team News
Christian Norgaard is available for Brentford after he was sidelined for their 1-1 draw against Everton due to a concussion.
Mathias Jensen (adductor) could also return but Sepp van den Berg, Josh Dasilva (both knee), Gustavo Nunes (back), Igor Thiago (joint), Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey (both hamstring) remain ruled out.
Villa have no fresh injury concerns to report after their Champions League win away at Club Brugge, but Amadou Onana (thigh) and Ross Barkley (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford host Villa at Gtech Community Stadium in a 5:30pm GMT kick-off on Saturday 8 March, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford are winless in their last five meetings against Villa (D2, L3).
- Villa have lost one of their three previous Premier League visits to Brentford (W1, D1, L1).
- Two of Brentford’s three previous Premier League meetings at home to Villa ended in 2-1 results, with both teams taking one win apiece.
- Brentford have conceded twice in three of their last four home games (D1, L2).
- Villa have claimed seven points in their six previous Premier League visits to London-based clubs this season (W2, D1, L3).
Prediction
Given the current close state of the race for European qualification and sat four points adrift of the top-ten, Brentford know that a win here could be a springboard for an unlikely late push for a top-ten finish and a spot in Europe but their end product must be more polished than it was in their draw against Everton.
Villa meanwhile can afford to relax slightly with a solid aggregate lead over Club Brugge following a well-executed clinical win where they were energetic, even if they had to defensively weather Brugge’s pressure for much of the game but crucially took their chances.
Emery though will likely rotate his team with one eye on the return leg against Brugge on Wednesday but I do expect a strong enough team to frustrate Brentford and snatch a draw.
Prediction: Brentford 1-1 Aston Villa
Result: Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa