Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw
Best Odds: 19/4
Bookmaker: Zetbet
Brentford and Aston Villa will lock horns with each other in the Premier League next weekend. The match between Keith Andrews̢۪s side and Unai Emery̢۪s team will be held at the Brentford Community Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 3pm UK time on Saturday.
Brentford
Brentford are a modest club in England, but the Bees have established themselves in the Premier League. Under then-manager Thomas Frank, who is now in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, the London club finished 10th in the Premier League table last season and will aim higher this time around.
The Bees have a new manager in charge, Keith Andrews, for whom this is his full-time role at a club. The 44-year-old former Republic of Ireland international defensive midfielder was working as a set-piece coach at the Bees before he made the step-up.
Brentford kicked off their Premier League campaign with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest away from home at the City Ground. After the match, Andrews said: “It was always going to be difficult but we made it harder for ourselves.
“We knew their strengths and we knew the problems they would cause. Set-pieces were always going to be a threat.
“Get back to basics. Basics in the game is a dirty word at times, but you have to have an edge and do the ugly side of the game and compete as a team. I didn’t think we did that.
“I saw it a lot in the first half, and it’s something we need to address. The second half was a lot better on a lot of fronts.”
Team News:
Brentford are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Aston Villa. CaoimhÃn Kelleher will be in goal for the Bees. Michael Kayode, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg and Rico Henry will be the four defenders. Yehor Yarmoliuk and Mathias Jensen will be the two holding midfielders. Keane Lewis-Potter, Antoni Milambo and Fabio Carvalho will be deployed in attacking midfield, with Thiago set to lead the line for the Bees.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa are one of the biggest clubs in England and have established themselves among the elite in the Premier League under manager Unai Emery. Villa played in the UEFA Champions League last season and will aim to end up in the Premier League top four in the 2025-26 campaign.
Villa kicked off their Premier League campaign with a goalless draw with Newcastle United at Villa Park in the Premier League. The Villans ended the game with 10 men after Ezri Konsa was shown a direct red card in the 66th minute.
Emery said after the match: “We are not with the same capacity like Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle, Manchester City or Chelsea or Arsenal, but we have our power and we have to be positive and work hard with our capacity to be with them.
“At the beginning, they have the capacity to get something more. We are talking about a lot of teams who are spending a lot of money, but we are going to focus on ourselves. We are getting the belief, of course; we have to believe in our sporting objective through our capacity.
“You have to be intelligent against other teams who have more options than us to be in the top seven. We must be proud how we are building and being competitive.”
Team News:
Aston Villa are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Brentford. Marco Bizot will be in goal for the Villans and will have Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings and Lucas Digne in front of him in defence. Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana will be the two holding midfielders. John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers will be the three attacking midfielders. Ollie Watkins will lead the line for Villa.
Key Factors to Consider
- Against Nottingham Forest, Brentford had 45.2% of the possession,
- Against Nottingham Forest, Brentford 10 shots, of which 3 were on target.
- Against Nottingham Forest, Brentford took 19 touches inside the opposition box.
- Against Newcastle United, Aston Villa took 39.9% of the possession.
- Against Newcastle United, Aston Villa took 16 shots, of which 3 were on target.
Conclusion
Aston Villa have a much better team than Brentford and will head into the Premier League game as favourites. Although the Bees have a good side, the Villans are better and should be able to eke out a narrow win.
Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw
Best Odds: 19/4
Bookmaker: Zetbet