Aston Villa v Brentford tips: Premier League best bets and preview
After tipping up a correct score winner in Brentford's fixture last weekend, Jake Pearson returns to preview the Bees' visit to Villa Park, picking out a best bet.
Football betting tips: Premier League
1pt Under 9.5 Corners at 11/10 (Unibet)
An opening day defeat to Watford was far from ideal for Aston Villa, pulling two goals back to make the scoreline respectable having fallen 3-0 down, but they hardly deserved to lose by a bigger margin, creating better opportunities than their newly-promoted opponents (xG: WAT 1.22-1.26 AVL).
They bounced back with a solid performance against Newcastle on Saturday, Danny Ings scoring a sublime overhead-kick on his home debut, before routing Barrow 6-0 in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Villa are a tough side to assess, particularly post-Jack Grealish. They appear to have recruited well, but it is impossible to tell at this stage.
Kick-off time: 15:00 BST, Saturday
Aston Villa 1/1 | Draw 5/2 | Brentford 13/5
Brentford are more of a known quantity, and they've demonstrated in their opening two matches how well they have understood the task facing them this season.
A 2-0 victory over Arsenal on the opening night of the Premier League may have been a monumental occasion for the club, but their defensive approach, more so than the victory itself, was the real winner of the night.
The fact that the Bees only surrendered low-probability chances equating to 1.19 expected goals (xG) against a ‘big six’ team on Premier League debut bodes very well, and again, away at Crystal Palace last weekend, Brentford were dutiful, limiting their opponents to just two shots on target, and an xG of just 0.62.
Thomas Frank and his staff have clearly identified the need for a solid base, and that will stand them in terrific stead as they bid to remain in the Premier League.
Neither of these two sides have been bountiful in terms of chances created so far this term, and that could continue into this fixture.
Siding against goals in the match could bear fruit, but more interesting is backing against corners.
Games involving only one team have seen fewer corners than games involving Brentford so far this season, and that team is Aston Villa.
Only Manchester City have conceded fewer than the six corners that Villa have conceded across their two matches, while Brentford’s tally of eight corners conceded is the fifth-lowest in the division.
Both these sides have averaged 3.5 corners per match so far, while conceding an average of three (Villa) and four (Brentford).
Either way you look at it, odds-against for UNDER 9.5 CORNERS in the match makes plenty of appeal.
Aston Villa v Brentford best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Under 9.5 Corners at 11/10 (Unibet)
Score prediction: Aston Villa 0-0 Brentford (Sky Bet odds: 10/1)
Odds correct at 1200 BST (25/08/21)
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
MOST READ FOOTBALL
FOOTBALL TIPS
