Aston Villa v Brentford Betting Tips: Villains to exploit weakened defence

These two sides have had poor starts to the season with promotion hopefuls Villa down in 18th whilst Brentford are stuck in the relegation zone without a win to their name.

After taking one point from a possible nine in their opening three league matches, Villa managed to recover before the international break with a three-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

Steve Bruce’s side have been in great goalscoring form of late with an average of three goals per game in their last three outings in all competitions. Additionally, their Goals For record of seven is the best in the bottom seven. Defensively though, unlike Bruce’s teams of the past and despite the addition of former Chelsea and England captain John Terry, Villa have had a bit of trouble so far this term with no clean sheet in any competition so far.

With their away form being so terrible for the last few years, Villa’s home form has been even more important. The Villains have won their last two matches on home soil whilst they have also lost just one competitive match at Villa Park since Valentine’s Day.

Brentford have had a nightmare start to this 2017/18 season and, to compound their miseries, they have lost a key group of players in this transfer window with defenders Harlee Dean and Maxime Colin moving to Birmingham City along with attacking midfielder Jota.

The Bees have really struggled at the back so far this campaign with nine goals conceded in five league outings. However, they did manage to keep a clean sheet against in-form Wolverhampton Wanderers in their final match before the international break. Again though, it must be emphasised that defensive stalwarts Dean and Colin have now left the club. In terms of the forward line, Dean Smith’s men have blown hot and cold this term: scoring five goals in two matches before then failing to score in their next two outings.

Brentford have a poor record outside of Griffin Park and their recent League Cup victory at Queens Park Rangers was their first win in a competitive away match since March.

Although they are still low down in the table, Villa have improved recently and are the favourites going into this match so it is hard to bet against them. Furthermore, Brentford have a poor record on their travels and the loss of Dean and Colin at the back will really hurt them. Aston Villa to Win and Over 1.5 Goals Total is priced at 13/10.