Aston Villa get their first taste of Carabao Cup football, as they take on Brentford tomorrow night. The two sides have already faced each other this season, with Brentford taking the three points in a 1-0 win. The Bees defeated Bournemouth in their previous cup game 2-0 and are looking to go beyond their Quarter-Final finish that they reached last season.
Villa on the other hand, were knocked out by Crystal Palace in the fourth round last year. They will be hoping that they can go on a run to give them the chance of winning some silverware, which is the aim for this season, although that looks pretty difficult with their performances so far.
Team News
Brentford
- Mikkel Damsgaard will still be unavailable
Aston Villa
- Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Andres Garcia are all sidelined
- A rotated starting XI is expected
Brentford Overview
Brentford come into the game off the back of a good performance against Chelsea. A mixture of resolute defending and periods of good attacking play saw them snatch a last-minute equaliser to secure a point. Keith Andrews is beginning to make an impact on his side, who currently sit in 12th place on four points.
Having played Villa recently, Brentford know what to expect. Although they didn't play too well in that game, they still took the three points. If they can make slight improvements then they will be another tricky test for Villa, who are still yet to score this season.
Predicted Lineup: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Ajer, Collins, Henry, Oneyka, Yarmoliuk, Outtara, Carvalho, Nelson, Schade
Aston Villa Overview
The Villans played defensively well in their last match against Everton, however, they still lacked creativity in attack. It was thanks to Emiliano Martínez that they walked away with a point. Confidence is clearly low and Unai Emery will be wanting tomorrow night to be the chance to gather some momentum and finally get things up and running for their season.
It will be an opportunity to rotate some players and potentially give starts to new signings Harvey Elliott, Jadon Sancho and Victor Lindelöf. With the Europa League kicking off next week, Villa's squad depth will be tested and everyone will play a part. Tomorrow's game is a chance for other players to step up and make an impact.
Villa's injuries in midfield will mean it's likely John McGinn and Lamare Bogarde will start, as they did on Saturday. In attack, there will definitely be some changes, but Ollie Watkins may keep his place so he has the chance to get off the mark for the season.
Evan Guessand coming on against Everton in the right-wing position to provide width may mean he starts tomorrow, but Donyell Malen could be in his place. Emiliano Buendía showed promise again on the weekend and could maintain his place on the left, with Sancho moving over to the right. Unai Emery certainly has a lot of options available to him with how versatile his attacking players are.
