Villama Preview: Brentford v Aston Villa

The build-up...

It was 3-0, but it could have been so much worse for Newcastle United last weekend. Aston Villa thoroughly dominated the MagpiesThe Magpies and it was nothing short of joyous.

Moving on to this weekend, the Claret and Blue travel to London to take on Brentford. In poor form of late, the Bees have had a largely successful season and an impressive home record, losing only to Arsenal 3-0 in September and more recently a 2-1 loss to the aforementioned Newcastle two weeks ago. Over the last three is where the aformentioned poor form comes into play, with losses to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux 2-0, the 2-1 loss at St. James’ to Newcastle, and a 1-0 loss at Old Trafford to Manchester United.

Players to look out for include Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen in midfield, Bryan Mbeumo in attacking midfield, and Ivan Toney at striker.

Last time we met at the Gtech Community Stadium...

Steven Gerrard’s men started off strongly on the road, with former Villan, Danny Ings, putting the visitors ahead 16 minutes into the match. However, the promising start wasn’t meant to last as Brentford equalized just before half-time through Yoane Wissa and secured all three points, with an 83rd minute winner via Mads Roerslev.

The line-up...

For Aston Villa this week, I don’t think there will be many changes if at all. Everything seemed to click and Ollie Watkins is on fire.

Emi Martinez will start in goal, with Alex Moreno at left-back and Ashley Young in for the injured Matty Cash at right-back. The center-back partnership will be Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konza. In midfield the holding partnership will be Douglas Luiz and Leander Dendoncker (sorry for doubting you, Leander). Further up the pitch, we’ll see Jacob Ramsey on the left and John McGinn on the right, with Emi Buendia filling the number 10 position and Ollie Watkins acting as the lone striker.

Score prediction...

Brentford are in poor form, though it should be remembered that they’re a quality opponent. Ninth in the table to Villa’s sixth, they’re capable of winning and have done well at home through the course of the season. They’ve proven, for the most part, to be capable of beating whomever they’ve come up against at home. They’re also running into a buzzsaw this weekend.

Aston Villa is absolutely transcendent at the moment and a 2-1 victory should be attainable.

Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images