Brentford vs Aston Villa
English Premier League, KO: 14:00 Dec 17, 2023, Brentford Community Stadium
Brentford will be aiming to snap out of a rough patch as they host in-form Aston Villa in a Premier League fixture on Sunday. The Villans have been impressive in recent weeks and with Brentford looking out of sorts at the moment, will be confident of claiming the upper hand here.
Things have been pretty rough for Brentford in recent weeks as they have picked up just one win from their last five Premier League matches. They have lost the other four fixtures, a run that has seen them slip into the bottom half of the table.
The injuries and absences are taking their toll on Brentford especially as they are currently without eight players at the moment. The Bees appeared to miss the attacking threat of Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney last time out in the Premier League as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United.
In the midst of all their problems Brentford have managed to do some good work in front of their fans as they have won three of their last four home matches. However, they were recently beaten 1-0 by Arsenal while a 3-1 defeat is also among their home results this season.
Aston Villa are coming off an excellent week which saw them claim back to back 1-0 victories over Manchester City and Arsenal. Those two results have taken them up to third and although manager Unai Emery continues to avoid the word “title”, they are only two points off the pace.
Beyond the Premier League, Aston Villa’s overall form has been quite impressive as they have lost just once in their last 10 matches across all competitions. They claimed seven wins in that run but were held 1-1 at Zrinjski in a Europa Conference League fixture on Thursday.
Of course, Aston Villa’s campaign has been built on that impressive home record which now stands at 15 straight wins. However, they have done some decent work on their travels with a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur and a 1-0 triumph at Chelsea among their recent results away from home.
How the bookies view it
Aston Villa have been installed as overwhelming favourites and are priced at 6/5 by Coral to claim the win. A victory for Brentford is valued at 23/10 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 11/4 by bet365.
Head to head
Aston Villa have a 6-4 advantage with seven draws from 17 previous matches against Brentford. Villa were unbeaten in this fixture last season, claiming a 4-0 win at home before playing out a 1-1 scoreline at the Brentford Community Stadium. Both teams also played out a 3-3 draw in a preseason friendly back in June.
Players to watch
In the absence of Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney, Brentford will look to Neil Maupay to lead the line on Sunday. The striker has scored in the last two home matches and is priced at 7/2 by Unibet to find the net.
Ollie Watkins is the leading scorer for Aston Villa this season with eight Premier League goals and will be the one to watch on Sunday. The striker has scored in the last two Premier League away matches and is priced at 6/4 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
There were over 3.5 goals in Aston Villa’s previous away fixture and a repeat is priced at 7/4 by Paddy Power. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 8/11 by Unibet, who is also offering odds of 16/25 on both teams to score.
Aston Villa have opened the scoring in their last two matches across all competitions and could be tipped to grab the first goal on Sunday at 4/5 with BoyleSports.
This English Premier League match between Brentford and Aston Villa will be played on Dec 17, 2023 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Brentford vs Aston Villa prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
