Wednesday night's live TV game comes at Villa Park as Aston Villa host Brentford. Tom Carnduff has picked out a goalscorer best bet.
Recommended Aston Villa v Brentford bets
2pts Ollie Watkins to score anytime at 17/5
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Aston Villa v Brentford (Villa Park, Wednesday 22nd August, 1945 BST, Sky Sports Football)
The Sky Sports cameras arrive in the West Midlands on Wednesday, where Brentford can continue their fine start to the season despite being outsiders away at Aston Villa.
Villa are the fancied side here, but Brentford's strength in attack could be crucial as they look to add another positive result.
The Bees have scored 12 goals in their opening four games, with Ollie Watkins hitting the ground running.
The 22-year-old is in his second campaign at this level, and whilst his ten goals last season can be applauded given the step up, his start to the current season has been fantastic.
Watkins has scored three goals in as many games, forming a healthy rivalry with Neal Maupay in Brentford's forward department.
Alongside them is Sergi Canos on the right - and the trio create an attack that is problematic for many defences.
Credit to Villa though, who come into this one in decent form themselves. They kicked the season off with victory over Hull, following that up with a win over Wigan and a draw at Ipswich.
Brentford though, have been playing eye-catching football that is effective - a style that is probably not getting enough credit given the impact Marcelo Bielsa is making at Leeds.
The stats for their win over Sheffield Wednesday highlight their dominance in games. They had 14 attempts on goal, with nine shots on target and nine corners in total.
The Bees also managed the same amount of attempts away at Stoke and at home to Rotherham - showing the attacking nature of Dean Smith's men.
There could be goals in this one too, and based on what we've seen so far, Brentford are capable of finding the net again.
The 17/5 price available on Watkins to score anytime is overpriced given his track record this season - and is well worth backing based on that value.
Score prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Brentford (Sky Bet odds: 9/1)
Best bet: Ollie Watkins to score anytime at 17/5
Opta facts
- Aston Villa are winless in their last four Championship matches against Brentford (D2 L2), last beating them in any competition in an FA Cup tie in February 1953.
- Brentford have never won away from home at Aston Villa in six attempts in all competitions (D4 L2), drawing their last two Championship visits there.
- Including last season’s play-offs, Aston Villa have only lost one of their previous 17 league games at Villa Park (W11 D5), and are unbeaten
- Brentford have suffered just one defeat in their previous 12 Championship games (W6 D5), scoring at least one goal in 11 of those fixtures.
- Aston Villa haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last five Championship games, their longest such run since August 2017 (a run of seven games conceded in).
- Neal Maupay has been directly involved in six of Brentford’s eight goals in the Championship so far this season (three goals and three assists).
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Odds correct as of 1540 BST on 20/08/18
