Key events
59 mins: From the corner, Damsgaard plays a long one-two with Janelt and whips the ball into the danger zone. Olsen claims it, but again winces and holds his lower back after doing so.
58 mins: Without Leon Bailey to worry about, Lewis-Potter gets forward down the left – but his cross is cut out by the motoring Disasi, who then celebrates his interception with gusto.
57 mins: Schade moves forward with options left and right, but a nervy touch reduces those options and by the time he plays it right to Mbeumo, he is well marked.
56 mins: This is a big test of Villa’s resolve, both away from home and after a European assignment. The two-goal cushion felt like a big confidence boost, but now that’s gone and Brentford are coming at them.
54 mins: Mbeumo runs at Mings, who can only deflect the Brentford man’s cross towards the near post, where Konsa hoofs it clear. Rogers draws a cheap foul from Janelt to alleviate the pressure.
53 mins: Brentford need to respond and Yoann Wissa, their biggest attacking threat so far, almost does so with a clever back-header from Damsgaard’s corner – but it zips over the bar.
NO GOAL! Watkins immediately gets free down the left again, this time racing to the byline and cutting back for Morgan Rogers, who lashes the ball into the roof of the net. But wait – there’s an offside check against Watkins, whose kneecap was beyond the last defender. A big let-off for Brentford!
Watkins offers the standard non-celebration after his sixth goal for Villa against his former club. And moments later, the visitors are pouring forward again …
GOAL! Brentford 0-1 Aston Villa (Watkins 48′)
Ollie Watkins, a virtual spectator in the first half, picks it up on the left, cuts inside – and his shot deflects off Nathan Collins’ shin and zips through Flekken’s legs!
47 mins: Mings heads a cross away and Villa get the chance to break away as Tielemans finds Ramsey …
46 mins: Wissa immediately makes a nuisance of himself again under a long pass, but Villa are able to keep him off the ball and return it to Olsen, who seems to have shaken off that back issue.
Peep!
The second half is under way. Villa are making a change, but it’s Matty Cash coming on for Leon Bailey.
Unlike the managers’ respective lids, there has been a lack of ebb and flow to this game. Both teams have looked most likely to strike on a quick counter or set piece. Could Marcus Rashford make a difference off the bench? Let’s see.
Peter Oh’s thoughts on the first half: “There’s not much between these two. Both are flowing and stylish, but Unai Emery’s hair is gelled and regimented – think early 80s Miami Vice – while Thomas Frank’s is looser and bouncier – early 90s Baywatch.”
Half time: Brentford 0-0 Aston Villa
I think we can all agree that was 46 minutes of football.
46 mins: Mbeumo’s volleyed cross lands to Schade, but he opts to try and trap it rather than head at goal, and Villa snuff out the chance.
45 mins: One minute of added time. More than enough.
43 mins: Mbeumo prods the ball past Tielemans and appears to be obstructed, but Jared G waves play on, much to the home fans’ chagrin.
41 mins: The VAR decides no further action is needed on a potential handball – in the meantime, Wissa nicks the rebound away from Bailey and motors away – with McGinn swinging an arm across to bring him down! He’s booked, and rightly so.
40 mins: Brentford have the full wall plus draft excluder in place, with Villa assembling their own dummy wall in front of it. A lot of faff, and the home fans get restless. Leon Bailey eventually takes it, and fires into the Brentford wall.
39 mins: Rogers, who’s been frustrated by the home defence so far, wins a free kick after a clumsy foul from Janelt. A chance for Villa to test Flekken from 25 yards out.
38 mins: Rogers looks for Digne with a diagonal ball, but the ever-busy Mbeumo is on hand to intercept.
35 mins: Brentford show how quickly they can make something happen, with Mbeumo’s raking pass setting Wissa free – but the flag goes up, and while Wissa tucks the ball past Olsen for good measure, he’s a yard offside.
33 mins: Yikes! The corner is half-cleared and then returned to the far post by Ramsey. Tielemans heads it down and Pinnock awkwardly toe-ends it over the bar. That could have gone anywhere!
32 mins: Olsen looks to be OK for now, and attention swings to the other end of the field as Tielemans races into the area, his shot from a tight angle parried by Flekken …
30 mins: Lewis-Potter is quick to test the keeper’s flexibility, shooting low from 30 yards out. Olsen is behind it, but still looks in a bit of discomfort. Villa’s backup goalie today is Oliwier Zych, a 20-year-old from Poland who is set to make his competitive debut.
28 mins: We’re back under way and after Tielemans swings a boot at Wissa’s cross, Olsen runs over and clears to prevent a corner. He may wish he hadn’t bothered, as he seems to have twinged his back in doing so …
26 mins: There’s a stoppage in play to allow players observing Ramadan to break their fast. It also gives both coaches the chance to gee their players up after a slowish start to proceedings.
24 mins: Schade launches a long throw in, which is dealt with at the near post. Brentford get a corner but Villa clear and break away – and Lewis-Potter does well to get across and stop Ramsey, streaking down the left wing, from causing any damage.
22 mins: Keane Lewis-Potter, traditionally a left-winger but playing at left-back recently for Brentford, is doing a decent job of marshalling Leon Bailey so far.
20 mins: McGinn links up with Watkins outside the Brentford area, but the move peters out. At the other end, Wissa is penalised for a frustrated shove after a long pass gets away from him.
18 mins: A lull in any meaningful goalmouth action.
15 mins: From a deep free kick, Digne swings in a pinpoint delivery and Mings gallops on to it – but he can’t make a clean contact and Flekken smothers his shot. That was Villa’s best chance so far.
13 mins: Villa continue to press, with Disasi’s flick repelled by Flekken before the flag goes up.
12 mins: Villa’s first corner is headed behind by Schade; the second is comfortably claimed by Mark Flekken.
11 mins: Now Jacob Ramsey finds space and looks to curl one beyond Flekken from the edge of the area … but Collins is there again to head it behind for a corner.
9 mins: At the other end, Tielemans tries a low shot on goal from 25 yards, but it’s blocked by Nathan Collins.
8 mins: Another Brentford opening as Damsgaard lifts the ball over the Villa backline to Janelt on the left. Mings intercepts the cross, but the offside flag goes up anyway.
6 mins: Eek! More defensive nerves for Villa, McGinn overplaying in his own penalty area – and a last-ditch Tielemans tackle is required to stop Wissa poking the ball home!
5 mins: Janelt plays a lovely ball down the left towards Kevin Schade, but Disasi is able to prod the ball back to Olsen – who traps the ball and then picks it up! Brentford appeal in vain for a free kick – but Villa get away with it.
4 mins: Today’s referee, Jared Gillett, penalises John McGinn for a shove in midfield. From the free kick, Brentford go long …
3 mins: Rogers, playing in the middle of Villa’s three behind Ollie Watkins, tries to find Bailey down the right, but overhits his pass.
2 mins: Villa are playing the ball around midfield, Brentford scurrying after them and making life difficult.
Peep!
Villa kick off and play it back to understudy Robin Olsen, who gets an early touch before hoofing it upfield.
The teams are out, with Villa in their navy away kit. Brentford are in red and white stripes, naturally. “Hey Jude” is reverberating around the Gtech. Here we go!
Unai Emery says that Emi Martínez and Marco Asensio were “not feeling comfortable” in training yesterday and are being left out as a precaution. He’s looking for his team to be more consistent and defensively tougher – “we’re conceding more goals recently”.
As for Thomas Frank, he says his “front four are on on fire at the moment. Offensively, we’ve added layers and they are much more of a threat this season.”
Here’s the table as it stands. Palace’s win means Brentford are down to 12th – but if they win today, they’ll only be six points behind City in fourth.
Premier League 3pm results
Brighton 2-1 Fulham
Crystal Palace 1-0 Ipswich
Liverpool 3-1 Southampton
Liverpool fight back in the second half, Mohamed Salah on target twice as they go sixteen points clear at the top; elsewhere, a late Ismaïla Sarr goal and an even later João Pedro penalty ensured home wins for Palace and Brighton.
No Emiliano Martínez for Aston Villa; Robin Olsen starts in goal instead. Marco Asensio is also not included in the visiting squad, making this game around 50% less interesting for the neutrals. Both players didn’t travel to the Gtech due to injury, it seems. Marcus Rashford is on the Villa bench, with Jacob Ramsey replacing him in the only outfield change to the team that won in Bruges on Tuesday.
For the hosts, Christian Norgaard has recovered from a concussion and replaces Yehor Yarmolyuk in midfield; that’s the only change from Brentford’s last game, which was at home to Everton 10 days ago. Injury problems mean a youthful bench; Yarmolyuk, midfielder Yunus Konak, defender Kim Ji-soo, forward Iwan Morgan and defender Benjamin Frederick are all 21 or younger.
Team news
Brentford (4-2-3-1): Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa.
Subs: Jensen, Valdimarsson, Mee, Yarmolyuk, Konak, Maghoma, Kim, Morgan, Fredrick.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Olsen; Disasi, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
Subs: Zych, Cash, Rashford, Torres, Garcia, Malen, Maatsen, Bogarde, Kamara.
Join Dominic Booth over here for all the 3pm action …
Preamble
Both of these teams kick off here in mid-table, but still hopeful of achieving greater things in the frenetic race for European places. To make progress today, though, both teams will have to overturn their recent form.
Having won seven of their first eight home games, Brentford are without a victory in their last six – their worst run for almost 20 years. Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s travel troubles are mounting. They have won just one of their last nine away league games, a run that includes four winless visits to the capital.
Unai Emery’s side can at least be encouraged by their recent record against tonight’s opponents. Their home win in December made it five games without defeat against Brentford, having previously failed to beat the Bees in eight games between 2016 and 2022.
On the other hand, Villa haven’t won the league game after a Champions League match since September. Something surely has to give tonight; or we could get a 1-1 draw. Let’s find out.
Kick-off is at 5.30pm, GMT.
