After a slow start to the season, Sky Sports' Patrick Rowe believes that Aston Villa's new signings will give them a much-needed confidence boost heading into their Carabao Cup clash against Brentford on Tuesday (8pm kick-off BST).

Victor Lindelöf, Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho all joined the Villans on Deadline Day.

It has only been a matter of weeks since the previous meeting and only a couple more league games have been played, but how did the first three go for Aston Villa, would you say?

The honest assessment would be that it could not have gone worse! Four games and zero goals scored.

Aston Villa have looked good in flashes, but they have been lacking something in the final third. There is hope that the arrivals of Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho can spark the season into life.

Morgan Rogers also looked very bright for England so Villa fans, and Unai Emery himself, will be hoping to see a different side coming into this one.

As you said, Villa were the only team not to score in August and their xG was the second-lowest in the Premier League. How concerned are you by that?

It is definitely a worry and one that no one saw coming. This is the same squad, minus Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, that took the race for Champions League football down to the very last day of the season.

Pressure is now mounting with the lack of goals looming over the team like a dark cloud.

There will be a sigh of relief when that first goal goes in. The quality is still in the squad, but confidence seems low.

You spoke about aiming for European glory last time around, so how high on Unai Emery’s list of priorities do you think the Carabao Cup will be?

The priority is always clear with Emery. His first focus is always the league, but this Villa squad is not the deepest.

Whether he likes it or not, a lot of the senior players who have started the first load of games will be in action in the Carabao Cup.

There will be rotation but don’t expect a brand new XI. For the fans, they are absolutely desperate to see a trophy lifted.

The trip to Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final last season did not go to plan, but you can see the boost it gives supporters in the build-up to the fixture; excitement, anticipation and relentless hope that this could be the year.

Which player should Brentford keep an eye out for on Tuesday night?

I think it might be the fear of the unknown that comes into play this time round.

Where will Elliott play for Villa? Can Sancho recapture his finest form in claret and blue?

Emery showed with Rashford that he can get the best out of players who have fallen out of favour.

We have all heard of the 'new manager bounce', but 'new signing confidence' also has to be factored in! Let’s see how they get on.

What should Keith Andrews’ men expect in terms of shape, style and personnel?

This is also an interesting one and touches on the previous question. With Sancho and Elliott in the team, Emery now has extra options to rely on out wide.

I would expect the usual 4-4-2 formation with one playing off the striker. With the new signings, you might see Donyell Malen shift to that role, or he could stay out wide and allow Rogers or Elliott to have a more flexible role behind the striker.

With the back four, expect most of the attacking play to come down the left with Lucas Digne or Ian Maatsen.

The right-back is more defensive in this Villa formation - Emery might even use Lamare Bogarde in that role, with the versatile young defender dropping into a centre-back role while Villa are in possession.

What’s your score prediction?

A tightly contested affair given the quick turnaround from Everton and Chelsea, respectively, over the weekend.

I’ll say 1-1 and Villa to edge it on penalties.