Brentford vs Aston Villa: Gerrard's side can sting Bees

Aston Villa had their game against Leeds United postponed on Tuesday due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the opposition camp. Steven Gerrard was probably not overly disappointed with that development. The Villa boss has also contracted the virus, but could be back in the dugout for Sunday's trip to Brentford.

Villa lost 3-1 to Chelsea on Boxing Day, continuing the pattern of Gerrard's tenure so far. His side have lost each of their meetings with the Premier League's top three, having previously gone down to Manchester City and Liverpool by narrow margins. But Gerrard has steered Villa to victory in his four other matches at the helm to revive the club's European ambitions.

Villa have scored in all but one of their seven games under Gerrard and will expect to find the net here. Brentford tend to score at their Community Stadium (although they did draw a blank in Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Manchester City), so over 2.5 goals at 2.02 looks like an attractive selection.

Brentford need to make their stadium a fortress

The Brentford Community Stadium is the newest ground in the Premier League - and it's also home to one of the best atmospheres in the division. Brentford put Arsenal to the sword in front of a raucous home crowd on the opening weekend, and they subsequently gave both Liverpool and Chelsea a scare in front of their supporters.

The Bees have been far from perfect on their own patch, though, losing to Norwich, Brighton and Leicester among others. They'll need to make the Community Stadium a fortress if they're to secure a second season of Premier League football.

Thomas Frank's side tend to struggle against opponents who sit a little deeper and look to break forward at speed in transition. Villa could configure their attack with that in mind, favouring the mobile Ollie Watkins to fox-in-the-box Danny Ings up front. Watkins has scored four goals in his last nine outings and is available at 2.98 to find the net anytime.

Villa could continue excellent start under Gerrard

Despite those three defeats to the Premier League's top trio, Villa haven't been outclassed by anyone they have faced under Gerrard. The former Rangers manager has made his new team harder to beat, improving their organisation out of possession and preaching the importance of compactness from back to front.

Brentford will look to disrupt Villa's shape by firing crosses into the box, a tactic which some visitors to west London have struggled to deal with this term.

Neither side is likely to settle for a draw in this one, which is why we could be in store for an entertaining encounter. But with Brentford missing several players and Villa boasting some serious firepower in attack, back the away team to win and both teams to score, which our traders price at 5.2.

Recommended bets

Over 2.5 goals at 2.02

Ollie Watkins to score anytime at 2.98

Aston Villa to win and both teams to score at 5.2