Brentford and Aston Villa will aim to clinch their first wins of the 2025/26 Premier League campaigns when they face off at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

The 2025/26 Premier League season continues this week with Gameweek 2, with the latest round of fixtures beginning on Friday. Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will kick things off at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon before the action continues with three simultaneous matches, including Brentford vs Aston Villa at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Brentford could not have asked for a worse summer, as the Bees have parted ways with their ex-head coach, former captain, and their third-highest goalscorer ever, with Yoane Wissa also keen on embarking on a new adventure amid his links with Newcastle United. So, it is hardly surprising that Keith Andrews and his charges lost their opening Premier League game, going down 3-1 to Nottingham Forest, with Igor Thiago scoring a consolation goal.

Like the home side, Aston Villa’s summer has been frustrating, as they have not been as active as they would have liked thus far in the transfer window. While the Villans are keen on signing multiple players in the next few days, their Premier League campaign has been slow off the blocks. Unai Emery’s men played out a drab goalless stalemate against Newcastle United, with Ezri Konsa seeing red.

The corresponding fixture last season saw Aston Villa clinch a 1-0 win over Brentford, with Ollie Watkins scoring the match-winning goal. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Brentford

Keith Andrews has received positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Brentford manager will be bereft of the services of only three first-team players vs Aston Villa on Saturday.

Ethan Pinnock, Edmond-Paris Maghoma, and Yunus Emre Konak are fit and available, while Mikkel Damsgaard returns after missing the game against Nottingham Forest due to personal reasons. However, Vitaly Janelt (heel) and Gustavo Nunes (hamstring) remain on the sidelines, and Yoane Wissa is indefinitely unavailable after trying to force a move away from Brentford.

Caoimhin Kelleher will retain his spot between the sticks, with Brentford lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Aston Villa on Saturday. The backline should feature Michael Kayode, Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, and Rico Henry.

As for the midfield unit, Jordan Henderson will aim to keep things tight in the middle of the park, and he will receive defensive support from Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard. The duo will also take creative charge for the home side. Finally, Igor Thiago will lead the line for Brentford against Aston Villa, with Keane Lewis-Potter and Kevin Schade being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Kelleher; Kayode, Collins, van den Berg, Henry; Jensen, Henderson, Damsgaard; Lewis-Potter, Thiago, Schade

Aston Villa

Unlike his counterpart in the Brentford dugout, Unai Emery has greeted a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium. The Aston Villa manager will be without only two first-team players on Saturday.

Ezri Konsa is the latest absentee, with the English international joining Andres Garcia (knock) on the sidelines after seeing red against Newcastle United last weekend. However, Emiliano Martinez has served a suspension, and Ross Barkley is fit and available to take on Brentford.

Emiliano Martinez will return between the sticks, with Aston Villa lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Brentford on Saturday. The backline should feature Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings, and Lucas Digne, with Torres replacing Konsa.

As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara in the double pivot, with Youri Tielemans reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Ollie Watkins will spearhead the Aston Villa attack against Brentford, with John McGinn and Morgan Rogers being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Torres, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins

Key Stats

• Brentford are winless in their last six league games vs Aston Villa (D2 L4), and they have not kept a clean sheet in any of their eight Premier League meetings with the Villans. Unai Emery’s men have won their two most recent away Premier League matches against Brentford, having lost on four of their previous five visits beforehand (D1).
• Brentford have never lost their first home top-flight match in any of their nine seasons at this level of English football (W7 D2), scoring at least two goals in every game.
• Aston Villa have gone two Premier League games without a goal (D1 L1) for just the second time under Unai Emery. They have not gone three successive matches without scoring in the division since July 2020 under Dean Smith.
• The Gtech Community Stadium witnessed 75 goals in the 2024/25 Premier League season, the most of any venue. Brentford scored and conceded two or more times in eight home matches, the most by a team in a Premier League season since Wigan Athletic in 2012/13.
• Igor Thiago scored his first Premier League goal for Brentford in their 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 1. Three players have scored in the Bees’ first and second games of a Premier League season – Joshua Dasilva in 2022/23, and Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa in 2023/24.

Player to Watch

Ollie Watkins

Embed from Getty Images

While Igor Thiago, Kevin Schade, and Pau Torres were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Ollie Watkins as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Brentford and Aston Villa at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Watkins has had a hand in 13 goals in his last 18 Premier League appearances in London for Aston Villa (G11 A2), scoring in his two most recent away games against former club Brentford in 2023/24 and 2024/25. With Aston Villa being listless in the season-opening clash last weekend, the English international will be eager to enter the Golden Boot race by finding the back of the net on Saturday.

Prediction

Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa

Beating Brentford in a season-opening clash at the Gtech Community Stadium is no easy task, with the Bees yet to lose their first home game in a top-flight campaign. However, the hosts look in trouble defensively, with Christian Norgaard’s departure hitting them significantly.

While Aston Villa did not produce the goods against Newcastle United, Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans should come to the party and set up more chances for Ollie Watkins. However, the home side will not go down without a fight, and The Hard Tackle predicts a hard-fought 2-1 win for Unai Emery and his charges.