Once sitting in third place, Aston Villa have plummeted so drastically that they've been overtaken by Brentford, who have climbed into the upper half of the table. Will Aston Villa's five-match winless streak in the Premier League come to an end?
Overall, Aston Villa have gone eight games without a win across all competitions. It's been just over a month, but the demanding schedule has proven too much, even with the international break providing respite. Their performance against Chelsea (0:3) was clumsy, so the result wasn’t a surprise. What happened to the team that managed to beat Bayern Munich, albeit with some fortune? Now they're down to 12th place.
Brentford, on the other hand, continue to collect points, bar a slip-up against Fulham, and have risen to eighth place. They lag just one win away from the European spots at Aston Villa's expense. Being the home side might ease the task for Birmingham’s team a bit. Brentford are among the two worst teams on the road: only during the 12th round did they secure their first point at Everton (0:0).
However, overcoming Brentford's resistance will still be challenging. In their last three meetings, Aston Villa's maximum margin of victory was by one goal (2:1). The most recent game at Villa Park ended in a draw (3:3). With the loss of Emiliano Martínez in goal and the hosts' poor form, we don’t expect more than a narrow victory for them. Brentford have a good chance to leave with at least a draw.
