An excellent win for Brentford took them to seventh in the table on Sunday.
For Aston Villa, however, the result meant a second straight home defeat to nil, despite the ‘second debut’ of Tammie Abraham (£6.0 million) and Douglas Luiz (£4.9 million).
Here are our Scout Notes from Villa Park.
FIRST LOOK AT ABRAHAM + LUIZ
Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers got a first look at Abraham and Luiz on Sunday. Both newcomers were immediately included in the Aston Villa XI.
Of Ollie Watkins (£8.7 million), unable to recover in time, Abraham started at the front.
He was passed through on goal early in the match Morgan Rogers (£7.7m), but Kevin Kelleher (£4.6m) made a very decent save. Later, an equalizer was controversially ruled out.
As for Luiz, he played along Lamare Bogarde (£4.0m) in the double pivot:
Straight back on set pieces, one of Luiz’s dead ball deliveries created a great chance Ezri Konsa (£4.4 million). He also scored three shots and five key passes, while narrowly missing out on a bonus.
In terms of defensive contributions (DefCon), Luiz made eight, which is close to his average from his last season at Villa Park.
Easily Villa’s best player, it was a promising start for the budget midfielder.
Above: Shots and key passes from Aston Villa players against Brentford
But Villa failed to break down 10-man Brentford despite pounding the Bees’ goal with 27 shots.
Opportunities for Matty Cash (£4.8m), Rogers, Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m) and replacement Leon Bailey (£5.5m) followed, but Brentford held on impressively.
As for Watkins, it looks like he will be fit for the trip to Bournemouth in Gameweek 25.
DAMAGE BAN
Brentford seemed to be in trouble on Sunday Kevin Damage (£7.1m) was sent off shortly before half-time for violent conduct after kicking out at Cash.
His three-match ban will rule him out of Gameweeks 25 (new) and 26 (ARS).
However, the final match will be played in the fourth round of the FA Cup. That means he’ll be back in time (and well-rested) for Brentford’s Gameweek 27 match:
Despite Schade’s dismissal from Villapark, Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) gave Brentford the lead shortly afterwards when he smashed one into the top corner from a tight angle.
As for Igor Thiago (£7.1m), his goal threat suffered from the red card, but he led the line well in difficult circumstances, gaining nine DefCons in the process.
“He’s unselfish in the way he plays. The work he does for the team and they all do. He was huge today and gave us a platform with his unselfish running.” – Keith Andrews on Igor Thiago
WHY COLLINS WAS ON THE BENCH
Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) was back in Brentford’s starting line-up for the first time since Gameweek 17 on Sunday but could not replace injury doubt Kristoffer Ajer (£4.4 million).
Instead, he lined up alongside the Norwegian centre-back Nathan Collins (£5.0m) surprisingly hit the bank.
Information on the exact reason for this decision is scarce, but this Republic of Ireland player tracker page indicated that he may have been dealing with a blow.
In any case, Collins appeared off the bench in the second half and came into action in the last half hour.
However, his absence did not seem to damage Brentford, who were compact and organized throughout.
After keeping a clean sheet for the fourth time in eight games, Kelleher is now the highest scoring goalkeeper during that period (gameweek 17-24), with 50 points, at least 13 more than any other player in his position.
“There’s a solidity, there’s grit, personality and growth from week to week and month to month. I love watching us.” –Keith Andrews
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