An excellent victory for Brentford sent them up to seventh in the table on Sunday.
However, for Aston Villa, the result marked a second successive home defeat to nil, despite the ‘second debuts’ of Tammy Abraham (£6.0m) and Douglas Luiz (£4.9m).
Here are our Scout Notes from Villa Park.
FIRST-LOOK AT ABRAHAM + LUIZ
Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers were given a first look at Abraham and Luiz on Sunday. Both new arrivals were immediately included in the Aston Villa XI.
With Ollie Watkins (£8.7m) unable to recover in time, Abraham started up front.
He was played through on goal early in the match by Morgan Rogers (£7.7m), but Caoimhin Kelleher (£4.6m) made a very decent save. He later had an equaliser controversially ruled out.
As for Luiz, he played alongside Lamare Bogarde (£4.0m) in the double pivot:
Straight back on set-pieces, one of Luiz’s dead-ball deliveries created a big chance for Ezri Konsa (£4.4m). He also racked up three shots and five key passes, whilst only narrowly missing out on bonus.
Regarding defensive contributions (DefCon), Luiz delivered eight, which aligns closely with his average from his last season at Villa Park.
Easily Villa’s best player, it was a promising start for the budget midfielder.
Above: Aston Villa players’ shots and key passes v Brentford
But Villa were unable to break 10-man Brentford down, despite peppering the Bees’ goal with 27 shots.
Chances for Matty Cash (£4.8m), Rogers, Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m) and substitute Leon Bailey (£5.5m) followed, but Brentford impressively stood firm.
As for Watkins, it sounds like he’ll be fit the trip to Bournemouth in Gameweek 25.
SCHADE BAN
Brentford looked to be in trouble on Sunday, when Kevin Schade (£7.1m) was sent off for violent conduct shortly before half-time, having kicked out at Cash.
His three-match ban will rule him out of Gameweeks 25 (new) and 26 (ARS).
However, the final game will be served in the FA Cup fourth round. That means he’ll be back in time (and well rested) for Brentford’s Gameweek 27 fixture swing:
Despite Schade’s dismissal at Villa Park, Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) gave Brentford the lead shortly after, when he smashed one into the top corner from a tight angle.
As for Igor Thiago (£7.1m), his goal threat suffered as a result of the red card, but he led the line well in difficult circumstances, racking up nine DefCons in the process.
“He is selfless in the way he plays. The work he does for the team and they all do. He was immense today and gave us a platform with his selfless running.” – Keith Andrews on Igor Thiago
WHY COLLINS WAS BENCHED
Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) was back in the Brentford starting line-up for the first time since Gameweek 17 on Sunday, but he didn’t replace injury doubt Kristoffer Ajer (£4.4m).
Instead, he lined up next to the Norwegian centre-half, with Nathan Collins (£5.0m) surprisingly dropped to the bench.
Information regarding 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 knock.
Collins did at least appear off the bench in the second half, coming on for the final half an hour.
However, his absence didn’t seem to harm Brentford, who were compact and organised throughout.
Having kept their fourth clean sheet in eight matches, Kelleher is now the top-scoring ‘keeper during that period (Gameweeks 17-24), with 50 points, at least 13 more than any other player in his position.
“There is a solidity, there is a grit, personality and growth week-to-week and month-to-month. I like watching us.” – Keith Andrews
