Aston Villa vs Brentford: Premier League preview, predictions and bet builder tips

• Ladbrokes previews Aston Villa vs Brentford in the Premier League

• Villa are tipped to win with Ollie Watkins scoring against his former club

• Over 2.5 total goals are predicted to be scored with Igor Thiago having at least one shot on target

Aston Villa continue their surprise pursuit of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League when they host Brentford at Villa Park.

The Villans closed the gap behind the Gunners to four points last weekend with a victory over Newcastle as they continue to defy the odds this season, with the returns of Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz handing them a much-needed boost after suffering the huge blow of losing midfield trio Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans to injury.

Brentford are also outperforming expectations this campaign, with the Bees firmly in the race for Europe in eighth despite losing their last two games to Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.

Check out our in-depth preview for Sunday's game, including our expert predictions, lineups and tips for your Aston Villa vs Brentford bet builder.

• Fixture: Aston Villa vs Brentford

• Date: Sunday, February 1, 2026

• Kick-off: 14:00 GMT

• Venue: Villa Park

Our prediction: Aston Villa 3-1 Brentford

Brentford actually beat Villa in the reverse fixture in the second game of the season as well as in the Carabao Cup but Unai Emery's men have come a long way since then, plus their record at home remains pretty formidable, even if they did lose to Everton in their last game at Villa Park.

With four wins and two draws from their previous six against the Bees, we think a fairly comfortable Villa win is on the cards.

Aston Villa

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Martinez / Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen / Bogarde, Onana / Sancho, Rogers, Buendia / Watkins

Brentford

Our predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Kelleher / Kayode, Collins, Ajer, Henry / Yarmolyuk, Janelt / Jensen, Damsgaard, Schade / Thiago

Ollie Watkins comes up against his former side in a rich vein of form in the Premier League, with his goal to seal the win at Newcastle his fifth goal in the last six games.

The England striker has an imperious record in games against the Bees, scoring six times and with Abraham set to provide competition to his place leading Villa's line, he will be desperate to nail down his starting spot with another goal.

Igor Thiago is another man in form, with a superb tally of 16 league goals this season, which places him behind only Erling Haaland in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot.

With the Brazilian averaging 1.3 shots on target per game over the stretch of the whole season, we think he is a good bet to test Emiliano Martinez with a shot on goal here.

There could be plenty of goals for the neutrals to enjoy, with both teams packed with attackers capable of finding the net.

With Villa and Brentford averaging 2.6 and 2.9 total goals per game this term, we think backing over 2.5 in this game feels like a reasonable shout.

Our final pick is for Aston Villa to keep up the pace at the top of the Premier League by securing another three points against Brentford.

While their midfield injuries are a blow, Villa have proved time and time again they are capable of dealing with adversity and they should still have enough to stay on track here.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.