Brentford and Aston Villa chase a first Premier League win of the season as the pair collide in West London.
Victory or a draw will keep Keith Andrews’ Bees out of the relegation zone, whilst Aston Villa can move further into the top ten with a win.
Team News
Mikkel Damsgaard is available for Brentford after he missed their opening-weekend defeat at Nottingham Forest for personal reasons.
Paris Maghoma (hamstring), Ethan Pinnock (muscle) and Yunus Konak (ankle) could also feature but Gustavo Nunes (hamstring) and Vitaly Janelt (heel) are ruled out.
Yoane Wissa is unlikely to feature amidst transfer speculation about his future.
Villa will be without Ezri Konsa following his red card in their goalless draw at home to Newcastle.
Emiliano Martinez is back from suspension, whilst Ross Barkley is fit enough for selection after he missed their opener.
Andres Garcia (knock) remains sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Brentford host Villa at Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday 23 August at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Brentford are winless in their last six league meetings against Villa (D2, L4).
- Villa have lost just one of four Premier League visits to Brentford (W2, D1, L1).
- Ollie Watkins scored in each of Villa’s last two trips to Brentford (W2).
- Three of Brentford’s last ten league goals at home were scored by Yoane Wissa (W2, L1).
- Villa have claimed ten points in their last seven league visits to London-based teams (W3, D1, L3)
Prediction
Defending would of been the main theme in Brentford’s training this week because their first-half defensive effort at Forest was pretty awful to watch, which has to be of huge concern given that Andrews was their set-piece coach last season yet they seemed to forget how to do marking now he is manager.
Their attacking play though is in transition to life without Bryan Mbeumo but with Yoane Wissa still available despite his transfer stance, I hope that he at least returns for this home game because they really could do with him up top for what will be a tricky game.
Villa meanwhile had a difficult season-opener against Newcastle but it felt like they had decided to park the bus early and play for a draw to get a point on the board, which could be crucial come end of season but I was disappointed at their lack of a plan b in creativity except for early in the second half.
Both teams therefore have huge work to do at opposite ends because Brentford need to sort out their defensive issues, whilst Villa need to find their attacking edge up front which could well cancel each other out if there isn’t enough improvement.
Prediction: Brentford 1-1 Aston Villa
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