Brentford vs Aston Villa: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

Brentford host Aston Villa for their first Premier League match of the new year on Sunday afternoon with both sides enduring mixed runs of form.

The Bees have lost their last three matches (without scoring) since a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Watford all the way back in the first half of December. Since Steven Gerrard's arrival in the Midlands, Villa have won four of his seven matches, though those three defeats came against the division's leading trio.

Here's all you need to know about the upcoming clash.

How to watch Brentford vs Aston Villa on TV/live stream

When is kick off? Sunday 2 January, 14:00 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Brentford Community Stadium
TV channel/live stream? Sky Sports (UK), Peacock (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports Football YouTube, Match of the Day 2 (10.30pm - BBC One)
Referee? Craig Pawson
VAR? Michael Oliver

Brentford team news

Brentford come into Sunday's contest with a squad that can only be described in the dire terms of 'depleted'.

Thomas Frank confirmed Rico Henry will be missing, joining fellow defenders Charlie Goode (hamstring) and Mathias Jorgensen (knee) on the sidelines. Vitaly Janelt will also be absent after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week.

The club's record signing Kristoffer Ajer hasn't featured since October but may return to the squad, if not the starting XI, this weekend. While Julian Jeanvier and Joshua Dasilva are some way off long-awaited returns, Christian Norgaard's one-game suspension has been served and Bryan Mbeumo could overcome a calf problem.

You can read Brentford's predicted lineup here.

Aston Villa team news

Should he record a negative COVID test, Steven Gerrard is scheduled to make his return to the touchline. However, Marvelous Nakamba won't be back on the pitch until April after sustaining a nasty knee injury this winter.

Leon Bailey continues to be sidelined with a thigh injury while club captain Tyrone Mings received a fifth yellow card of the season, earning him a suspension for Sunday's trip south. Ashley Young is also a fitness concern.

However, Villa are set to be strengthened by the return of John McGinn after the Scotland international missed last weekend's defeat to Chelsea with illness.

You can read Aston Villa's predicted lineup here.

Brentford vs Aston Villa head-to-head record

Since Aston Villa's last victory against Brentford, which came in an FA Cup replay more than half a century ago, the meetings between these two clubs have followed a regimented pattern; draws at Villa Park and home wins for the Bees.

A 1-1 tie in the Midlands last August upheld this sequence but Villa can take some confidence from a 100% winning record away to Brentford in England's top flight. However, the most recent of those three matches came while George VI was king (February 1947).

Brentford vs Aston Villa score prediction

Both sides have fallen foul of multiple COVID postponements in the last month. While Aston Villa had a pair of games either side of Boxing Day called off to give them a clear week of preparation, Brentford face their fourth match in 12 days this Sunday after the best part of a fortnight spent as onlookers.

18 games into the campaign these clubs are separated by just two points and as many places in the table's lower-middle class. Villa have won and lost more matches than their London counterparts but have put up poorer underlying numbers at both ends of the pitch.

A lighter workload and kinder injury list are both points in Villa's favour for a match in which the visitors may record just their second draw of the campaign.

Prediction: Brentford 1-1 Aston Villa