Brentford at Aston Villa, preview
The Bees take on the high-flying Villains, who currently sit third in the league.
The match-up
Brentford have already beaten Villa twice this season, with two early-season meetings, both in Brentford, one in the league and one in the Carabao Cup. Since that loss, Villa has only lost 4 of the last 28 games across all competitions. However, they have suffered some serious injuries recently, and have picked up several new players during the January transfer window.
Recent form
Aston Villa has done very little wrong lately, steadily picking up points both home and away. They've only lost at home twice all season. For the Bees, after going six straight without a defeat, they've lost the last two games without scoring a goal.
Opta Power Rankings (as of 30th January 2026)
| Club | Current PL position | Opta rating | PL rank (Opta) | Global rank (Opta) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | 3 | 96.1 | 3 | 4 |
| Brentford | 9 | 91.2 | 9 | 15 |
Tough to win in Birmingham
We cannot find any record of the Bees having ever won a game at Villa Park, though they have earned four draws in the 2000s.
The last time the Bees won in Birmingham was in November 2017, when they defeated Birmingham City 2-0 at St. Andrew's Stadium.
Let's hope that Brentford's early season successes at the Gtech will carry over to the Midlands this weekend.
This story was published on 31 January 2026. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.
