Aston Villavs.Brentford

While the Bees brushed Leicester City aside at the weekend, Villa slipped into the bottom half after seeing their long winless streak extended by Chelsea.

Match preview

Aston Villa's worrying run without a win ticked up to eight matches on Sunday afternoon, as a tepid performance in defeat at Stamford Bridge saw Unai Emery's faltering team drop three places to 12th spot in the English top flight.

Barely laying a glove on in-form Chelsea, the Villans were ultimately beaten 3-0, with Cole Palmer capping off the hosts' victory with a sublime strike that left substitute goalkeeper Robin Olsen helpless.

Emery is enduring the worst run of his tenure at Villa Park, having failed to taste success since a 2-0 Champions League win over Bologna in October, and his side have collected just a single point from four Premier League contests between then and now.

Also outside the top eight of the Champions League standings, following last week's goalless home draw with Juventus, Villa will hope to start turning things around before their campaign completely unravels.

Despite such a downturn, the Birmingham club have still lost just one of their last 11 top-flight home games, while each of their last three have finished level.

Unbeaten in four league meetings with Brentford - having failed to win any of their previous eight - Villa therefore have some reason to believe a revival could be sparked in midweek.

Off course, Brentford will have very different plans for Wednesday's clash, in which they will aim to extend their undefeated streak to four games and secure a fifth win in seven across all competitions.

Kevin Schade scored his first senior hat-trick as the Bees beat Leicester City 4-1 at the weekend, recording a club record fourth successive Premier League home victory.

Some 49 goals have now been scored during their first 13 matches - 26 for and 23 against - and the London club can certainly claim to be the top flight's great entertainers.

Remarkably, Thomas Frank's men have taken more points from home fixtures than any other team this season (19), though no side has won fewer on the road - just one, level with rock-bottom Southampton.

Furthermore, Brentford have never won a league game at Villa Park in nine previous attempts, only visiting Stoke City and Halifax Town more often without ever coming out on top.

Aston Villa Premier League form:

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Aston Villa form (all competitions):

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Brentford Premier League form:

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Brentford form (all competitions):

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Team News

After Aston Villa's talismanic goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was forced off at half-time of Sunday's defeat with a hand injury, the hosts may turn to his experienced deputy Robin Olsen on Wednesday evening, when Unai Emery could be tempted to make further changes.

Colombian super-sub Jhon Duran is pushing for a start at the expense of top scorer Ollie Watkins - who was signed from Brentford in 2020 - due to the latter's declining output.

However, Watkins became the first Villa player to reach 50 goal involvements in Premier League home games during the recent 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace and has clearly earned Emery's trust.

Though doubt remains about the possible involvement of Martinez, both Jacob Ramsey (hamstring) and Amadou Onana (ankle) are still sidelined.

Meanwhile, Brentford's Kevin Schade can expect to keep his place, after becoming the fourth German player to score a Premier League hat-trick last time out - three goals against Leicester were more than he had managed across 41 previous appearances.

Fellow forward Igor Thiago is nearing a return to full fitness and should be named on the bench, but Kristoffer Ajer and Gustavo Nunes are unavailable, in addition to Josh Dasilva, Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey.

As Mathias Jensen was forced off with a hamstring issue on Saturday, his midfield replacement Vitaly Janelt could be promoted to the starting XI.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Olsen; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Barkley, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins

Brentford possible starting lineup:

Flekken; Van den Berg, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa

We say: Aston Villa 1-1 Brentford

There has been just one clean sheet in six Premier League meetings between Aston Villa and Brentford to date, while Villa are shipping plenty of goals this season and the Bees have scored freely.

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