Aston Villa look for a successful return to Premier League matters in the capital on Saturday evening, where they take on Brentford at 5.30pm.
The Villans will be hoping for a third-straight victory in three different competitions, after Tuesday's Champions League round of 16 first-leg triumph away at Club Brugge followed a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City at Villa Park, which booked a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Unai Emery's men are chasing a league double over Thomas Frank's Brentford, after winning 3-1 over the Bees at Villa Park in early December. They have not won both games in a league season against the West London outfit since the 1946/47 season.
After a mixed run of results, which has seen them win four, lose four and draw two of their 10 outings since the turn of the year, Brentford currently occupy 11th place in the league table, one spot and four points behind the Villans, having played a game less.
Having won seven of their first eight Premier League home games this season, Brentford are now winless in their last six at the Gtech Community Stadium, with the Villans looking to make it six games unbeaten against Saturday's hosts, after a late comeback victory in West London last season.
Stats
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been involved in nine goals in his last 13 Premier League games in London, scoring eight and assisting one. His 15 goals overall in the capital are more than twice as many as any other Aston Villa player in the competition.
10 of Bryan Mbeumo’s 15 Premier League goals this season have put Brentford ahead in the match, with no player netting more this term. Seven of these have put the Bees 1-0 up, with only Chris Wood (9) netting the opening goal in more different games.
No team’s Premier League games have seen both teams score more often than Aston Villa’s this season (20), with the Villans netting and conceding in each of their last four – that hasn’t happened in five straight league matches since May 2022.
Aston Villa’s Marco Asensio has been involved in eight goals in his last nine league starts (4 goals, 4 assists). However, he hasn’t scored in any of his last 12 away league appearances since netting at Strasbourg for PSG in February 2024.
Brentford have the best shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season (15.2%), while their xG per shot is also the highest figure in the competition this term (0.14).
Having won 10 points from their first 12 available away from home in the Premier League this season (W3 D1 L0), Aston Villa have since won just four from a possible 27 on the road (W1 D1 L7).
Having won seven of their first eight Premier League home games this season (D1), Brentford are now winless in their last six (D2 L4). They last had a longer run without a league home win between September-December 2006 in League One (9 games).
Aston Villa have scored in all seven of their Premier League meetings with Brentford, but have also kept only one clean sheet in that run (4-0 in October 2022).
Following their 3-1 win at Villa Park in December, Aston Villa are looking to complete their first league double over Brentford since the 1946/47 campaign.
Having been unbeaten in their first eight league meetings with Aston Villa in the 21st century (alternating between and draw and a victory each time), Brentford are now winless in their last five against the Villans (D2 L3, alternating between defeat and a draw each time).
The Last Meeting
The last meeting between these two sides saw Unai Emery's men pick up a much-needed three points at Villa Park to end their winless run, triumphing 3-1 over the Bees at the beginning of December.
A scintillating first-half performance saw the Villans race into a three-goal advantage in the space of 13 minutes, thanks to a wonderful Morgan Rogers strike, an Ollie Watkins penalty, and Matty Cash's first goal of the season.
Mikkel Damsgaard fired high into the roof of the net from the edge of the six-yard area nine minutes after the second period got underway as Brentford looked to mount a comeback, but Villa held on for a comfortable win.
Team News
Andrés García and Donyell Malen are back available for selection, having missed the midweek Champions League trip to Belgium, while Pau Torres will be in contention to make his first appearance since returning from injury.
Ross Barkley remains out alongside Amadou Onana, though Unai Emery admitted the latter was closing in on a return.
Brentford will be boosted by the returns of Christian Nørgaard and Mathias Jensen, after the pair were among eight absentees for the Bees in their draw with Everton last time out.
Rico Henry (hamstring), Sepp van den Berg (knee) and Aaron Hickey (thigh) remain out though are close to returning, but Igor Thiago (knee), Josh Dasilva (knee) and Gustavo Nunes (back) all remain sidelined as long-term absentees.
Managers' Pre-Match Thoughts
“Of course, very difficult. It’s a very tough match for different reasons, because they are performing very well, because they are competing fantastic always with Thomas (Frank) achieving success the years he is a manager at Brentford. And, of course, tomorrow, we will play performing very good in case we want to win, and we want to compete getting points there.”
Unai Emery
“(We’d) Really like to come back to winning ways at home, but it’s about focusing on the performances. (If) We have consistent performances home and away, then it will come. I think Villa has an extremely good team. I think they did fantastic business in the January transfer window, bringing in really good players. Hopefully we can add an extra level tomorrow.”
Thomas Frank
