Aston Villa continue their Premier League title challenge against top-four-chasing Brentford at Villa Park.
Victory would move Villa up to second for at least a few hours and back to within four points of title leaders, Arsenal.
Brentford meanwhile can go as high as seventh depending on results elsewhere.
Team News
Tammy Abraham could make his first appearance for Aston Villa since re-joining the club from Fenerbahce in midweek, after he was ineligible to feature in their 3-2 victory over RB Salzburg in the Europa League.
Andres Garcia is ruled out after he missed the RB Salzburg game due to a hamstring injury, whilst Ollie Watkins is a doubt with his own hamstring injury.
Alysson is unavailable after he suffered a relapse in a minor knee injury which has prevented him from making his debut so far, and he won’t be risked until at least late February.
Youri Tielemans (ankle), John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara and Ross Barkley (all knee) remain absent.
Brentford could be without Mikkel Damsgaard and Kristoffer Ajer due to respective knee and ankle injuries suffered in their 2-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest.
Fabio Carvalho, Josh Dasilva and Antoni Milambo (all ACL) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa host Brentford at Villa Park on Sunday 1 February at 2pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa have lost just one of their last seven league meetings against Brentford (W4, D2, L1).
- Brentford are yet to claim a Premier League victory at Villa (D2, L2).
- Villa’s Ollie Watkins has scored four goals in his last three home appearances against Brentford.
- Villa are looking to avoid suffering two straight top-flight home defeats since January-February 2024.
- Brentford are looking to avoid suffering three consecutive defeats for the first time since February 2024.
Prediction
Having scrapped their way to victory from 2-0 down at home to RB Salzburg, Villa need to be more defensively solid akin to the side which comfortably beat Newcastle in their last league outing, but Watkins could be a big loss up front although Abraham is a solid replacement given his form at Fenerbahce.
Brentford meanwhile have simply been unlucky that their sharp end product has gone AWOL in their last two games, because they just lacked their usual powerful final touches in their loss to Forest so this is a chance for them to bounce back now.
Either way I expect a good battle between two strong attacking teams who have pace and intensity but if Watkins is absent and others don’t step up aside from Morgan Rogers, I wouldn’t be shocked if Brentford nick this.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Brentford
Result: Aston Villa 0-1 Brentford
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