Aston Villa head to Brentford for their first game of the new year, with both teams aiming to be more consistent in the second half of the Premier League season.
New boss Steven Gerrard has certainly made early progress since joining from Rangers, but Villa have only won one of the last three and saw their game against Leeds last week postponed.
They will be looking upward to the top half and picking up points more regularly, in this type of fixture against teams below them, will be the standard Gerrard will be wanting to set.
Brentford themselves have taken only a single victory from the last five and, though there remains a healthy gap between themselves in 14th and the bottom three, won’t want to go on long winless streaks to make their top-flight return a less-enjoyable affair.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game.
When is the match?
The game kicks off at 2pm GMT on Sunday 2 January, 2022 at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Ultra HD. Subscribers can stream the game via the Sky Go app.
If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
What is the team news?
Brentford still have a lengthy injury list which includes Zanka, David Raya, Josh DaSilva, Rico Henry and Kristoffer Ajer. Christian Norgaard is back from suspension and Bryan Mbeumo also returns.
Villa have Tyrone Mings suspended and Leon Bailey missing through injury. Ashley Young is a doubt with a knock.
Confirmed line-ups
BRE - Fernandez, Pinnock, Jansson, Bech, Roerslev, Onyeka, Norgaard, Jensen, Canos, Toney, Wissa
AST - Martinez, Cash, Hause, Konsa, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Traore, Buendia, Ings, J Ramsey
Odds
Brentford 21/10
Draw 40/17
Villa 6/4
Prediction
A struggle for consistency has blighted both teams so far this term but Villa look well-placed to show improvement on that and could start the year in a very positive way. Brentford 1-2 Aston Villa.
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