Sky is the limit for ‘relentless’ Brentford ahead of Villa test, says Frank

Brentford boss Thomas Frank believes the sky is the limit for his players after they dispatched Leicester City last time out to move up to eighth in the Premier League table.

A hat-trick from Kevin Schade and a goal from Yoane Wissa earned the Bees their sixth win of the season last Saturday, all of which have come at home, more than they managed for the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign (five).

Brentford also became the first side to score 20+ goals at home in the Premier League this term. After seven home games, it’s the earliest in a league season that they have reached 20+ home goals since 1982-83 (also seven), and the earliest in the top-flight since 1936-37 (also seven).

While their away from has left a lot to be desired, with a midweek trip to Aston Villa up next for the Bees, Frank is confident his players can push to finish in the European places.

“As high as possible. We are very happy with the season so far, always thinking of what to improve. Even this game, there are things we could do better, but football is tough. We celebrate today and we go again in training tomorrow,” Frank said.

“It was a very good performance, probably our best performance this year overall. I think we controlled and dominated that game from minute one to the end of the game. They got 1-0 up but we were just relentless.

“This group of players has a top mentality, top character and top culture. That bounce-back mentality is something you need to have not just after a game you lose, but also in games.”

A Super Saturday pic.twitter.com/242yT9hMmI

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 30, 2024

Villa, meanwhile, endured a difficult day at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, losing 3-0 to Chelsea, which dropped them down into the bottom half of the Premier League standings.

The Villans are now winless in their last five straight top-flight games for the first time since August 2022 under Steven Gerrard. This current form is also the joint-longest streak without a victory in the Premier League (five – level with Everton and Leicester).

However, Unai Emery insisted that he was happy with his side’s displays this term, both domestically and in the Champions League, but acknowledged improvements were needed.

“We believe completely in our work. We are enjoying the Champions League, and in the league, we are more or less where we were [last season],” Emery said. “Our challenge is to fight on Wednesday with Brentford and see how our level is with Brentford.

“There are still matches to play and we are going to recover our confidence, trying to build the team. We have to try to be better than we are being now. We can individually do better.

“At the beginning of the season, we can sense some teams were better than us and one of them is Chelsea. We try to keep the balance and not be frustrated.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

Against Crystal Palace last time out, Watkins became the first Villa player to reach 50 goal involvements in Premier League home games (35 goals, 15 assists).

His 35 goals is the second most by a Villa player at Villa Park, behind only Dwight Yorke (37), and the England international will be hopeful of adding to that total on Wednesday.

Brentford – Kevin Schade

While the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Wissa have received plaudits for their starts to the season, the Bees were able to showcase the depth of their attacking talent against Leicester, none more so than Schade.

He became the fourth German player to score a Premier League hat-trick last time out against the Foxes, with his three goals in that game more than he’d managed in his previous 41 appearances in the competition combined (two).

4 – Kevin Schade is only the fourth German to score a hat-trick in the @premierleague, along with Jürgen Klinsmann (1998), Fredi Bobic (2002), and André Schurrle (2014). Wunderbar. pic.twitter.com/4Mw8WXoGJa

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 30, 2024

MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN

Villa are unbeaten in their last four league games against Brentford (W2 D2), having been winless in their previous eight (D4 L4).

However, the Villans have won just two of their last 14 Premier League games played on a Wednesday (D4 L8), though one of these was in their last such home match against Manchester City in December last year.

They have also impressed at Villa Park, losing just one of their last 11 Premier League home games (W4 D6). Each of their last three have finished level, though, with Villa last drawing four consecutive Premier League games on home soil between March and April 2007.

Brentford, meanwhile, have never won an away league game against Villa (D6 L3), with the Bees only facing Stoke City (14) and Halifax Town (11) more often on the road without ever winning in their league history.

While Frank’s side have won more points in Premier League home games than any other side this season (19), no side have won fewer points on the road than the Bees this term (1, level with Southampton).

They have also lost nine of their last 10 top-flight games against sides that finished in the top four the previous season, with the only exception being a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in March.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Aston Villa – 50.8%

Draw – 23.6%

Brentford – 25.6%