Aston Villa will be bidding to end a 78-year streak when they square off against Brentford on Saturday evening.
The West Midlands outfit return to Premier League action on the back of recording a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League last 16 earlier this week.
Unai Emery will be eager to ensure that Villa complete the job on Wednesday, yet their current priority is making headway up the top-flight standings.
Villa make the trip to the Gtech Comminuty Stadium sitting in 10th place in the table and now just four points above their next opponents.
Although the Spaniard may prefer to focus on Villa being only five points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City, the stakes are high ahead of their visit to West London.
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What streak is on the line?
In December, Villa recorded a 3-1 victory over Brentford, a goal glut across a 13-minute period in the first half proving decisive for the home side.
Should Villa back up that success this weekend, it will represent the first time since the 1946-47 campaign that they have achieved a league double over the Bees.
Furthermore, not since that date has either team recorded successive victories in this fixture across all competitions, a run spanning 15 encounters.
Villa are unbeaten on their last two visits to Brentford, a 1-1 draw being followed by a 2-1 success in a double-header that took place during 2023.
Meanwhile, Villa have netted in all seven of their Premier League fixtures against Brentford, last failing to score in a Championship fixture back in February 2019.
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Brentford's poor home form
There was a time earlier in the season when Brentford possessed the best home record in the Premier League, but that has changed since the turn of the year.
Thomas Frank's side have failed to prevail in any of their last six such fixtures, collecting just two points in the process, and it represents the longest streak without a league home win since 2006.
On a more positive note, the Bees will take encouragement from Villa accumulating just four points from their most recent nine away fixtures in the top flight.
In five of their last six away league games, Villa have conceded at least two goals. That comes at a time when Brentford remain with the best attacking record in home matches during 2024-25, scoring 30 times.
Darren Plant
