At A Glance
Aston Villa go in search of back-to-back Premier League wins when they welcome new boys Brentford to Villa Park on Saturday.
Danny Ings and Anwar El Ghazi secured a 2-0 victory against Newcastle United on home turf last weekend, with a midweek trip to Barrow in the Carabao Cup also ending in success.
After an opening day loss to Watford, Dean Smith will hope a packed Villa Park can inspire his current club to taste victory against his former employers.
Brentford began life in the top flight by pulling off a shock 2-0 win against Arsenal at home.
Thomas Frank’s team followed it up with a 0-0 draw on their travels against Crystal Palace, meaning they’re one of only four sides yet to concede a goal in the Premier League.
In midweek, the Bees fell behind against Forest Green Rovers before staging a second half comeback to win 3-1 in the Carabao Cup.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa have never lost a top-flight match against Brentford (W5 D1), with this the first such meeting between the sides since February 1947 (Brentford 0-2 Aston Villa).
Brentford are unbeaten in their last six league meetings with Aston Villa (W3 D3, all in the Championship between 2016-2019). However, all three games at Villa Park in that run finished level, with the Bees never winning away against the Villans in all competitions (D5 L2).
Aston Villa haven’t lost their first Premier League meeting with an opponent since August 2008, going down 3-2 at Stoke. The Villans have won five and drawn two of their seven such games since.
Aston Villa have scored two goals in each of their last five Premier League games. They last scored 2+ goals in more consecutive top-flight matches in October/November 1980 (7), in their last title winning campaign.
Brentford are yet to concede a goal in the Premier League this season, with only two newly promoted sides keeping clean sheets in their first three games of a season: Charlton Athletic in 1998-99 and Huddersfield Town in 2017-18.
Aston Villa have scored four goals from just four shots on target in the Premier League this season, the only side with a 100% such record in the competition so far.
Aston Villa’s Emiliano Buendía has been involved in a goal in all three of his league appearances against Brentford (2 goals, 1 assist), all with Norwich between 2018 and 2021. He was involved in 100% of the goals the Canaries scored against the Bees in games he played against them.
Danny Ings has scored in his first two Premier League matches for Aston Villa, finding the net against Watford and Newcastle. The last Villa player to score in their first three league matches of a season was Dalian Atkinson in 1992-93.
Since the start of last season, only Ederson (20) and Édouard Mendy (18) have kept more Premier League clean sheets among goalkeepers than Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martínez (16). The Argentine has kept a clean sheet in 40% of his Premier League appearances for the Villans (16/40), the best rate of any keeper with more than 10 starts for the club in the competition.
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith took charge of Brentford for 143 games between 2015 and 2018 – he lost his only previous meeting with the Bees after leaving them, going down 1-0 at Griffin Park in February 2019 in the Championship.
The Last Meeting
Dean Smith’s first return to former club Brentford ended in defeat in February 2019 as The Bees struck in stoppage time.
Neal Maupay scored the only goal of the game to settle the Championship tie, steering in a stunning strike.
Smith was left to bemoan his side’s finishing on the night, saying: “The best chances fell to us and we didn't take them."
Team News
Dean Smith said Ollie Watkins will train on Friday and if he gets through training, he’ll be available for selection.
He also confirmed Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore, Morgan Sanson and Keinan Davis remain sidelined.
Opposite number Thomas Frank says Matthias Jensen and Shandon Baptis are getting closer, while he expects Ethan Pinnock to recover from a knock last weekend in time for the game.
Mads Bech has picked up a knee injury, Charlie Goode has a minor injury but Tariqe Fosu is available for selection.
The Boss
“Their progress has been there for all to see over the last seven or eight years. Under the ownership of Matthew Benham, it’s been nothing but remarkable. The signings that they’ve made, the transfer money that they’ve made and their progression now to becoming a Premier League club with a fantastic new stadium. I was certainly cheering them on to get into the Premier League and I’m looking forward to pitting my wits against my old assistant, Thomas Frank.”
Dean Smith
