Brentford return to Premier League action following the international break with an away fixture against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off BST).
The Bees are unbeaten in seven matches across all competitions this term, while Villa got on the board with a 3-2 victory against Tottenham Hotspur last time out.
Analysis, team news, match officials and more - here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.
Pre-match analysis
Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Bees' impressive numbers from season so far
Brentford return to action after an extended international break looking to harness the momentum built by their best-ever start to a Premier League season.
The Bees signed off in style three weeks ago, sweeping Chelsea aside 3-0 at Gtech Community Stadium to move fourth in the table and extend their unbeaten start to seven games across all competitions.
Keith Andrews' side have spent just three minutes and 10 seconds behind in the Premier League this term, while their intensity without the ball has been equally striking: Brentford rank second in the division for sprints, with September Player of the Month nominee Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago both among the competition's five most prolific sprinters.
The Bees also appear to have honed one of their traditional strengths. Brentford lead the league for set-piece xG and xG per corner, with Jaidon Anthony's opener against Chelsea the latest evidence of their threat from dead-ball situations.
At the other end of the pitch, Brentford have posted some encouraging defensive numbers.
Only Everton and Leeds (three goals apiece) have conceded fewer than the Bees (four) over the first five games of the season, with Vitaly Janelt and Kristoffer Ajer among their standout performers.
Janelt has made more interceptions (16) than any other Premier League player this term, while Ajer currently ranks fourth in the division for both clearances and aerial duels won.
Both return from productive international breaks on a personal level: Janelt made his senior Germany debut in a 2-0 win over Serbia, while Ajer scored a thunderous volley in Norway's 2-1 defeat to Portugal last weekend.
Ajer has been colossal at the back alongside either Jannik Schuster or Nathan Collins, and the Bees' collective strength in the air may be significant on Saturday.
Brentford have won more aerial duels per game (21.6) than any team in the Premier League this season, while Saturday's opponents Villa have won fewer (9) than any other side.
After winning the Europa League last season, Villa are a team in transition. With the likes of Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Emiliano Martínez all departing Villa Park in the summer, the Midlanders have endured a slow start and currently rank bottom of the top flight for both shots (9.6) and shots on target (2.4) per game.
However, there were signs that Villa's new-look squad was starting to click in their 3-2 victory over Spurs.
Japan international Zion Suzuki has made a positive impact between the sticks for the Villans, the 24-year-old former Parma keeper making some outstanding saves in the win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson also scored their first Premier League goals in Villa colours in north London, with the lively forward duo offering plenty of encouragement that they can play important roles for Emery this season.
In addition to beating the Midlands club on penalties in the Carabao Cup, Brentford completed a league double over Villa last season.
Intriguingly, the Bees recorded their two lowest possession shares of the entire 2025/26 league campaign in those 1-0 victories (24 per cent at home and 28 per cent away), showcasing their resilience and ability to hurt teams without much of the ball.
With Emery's side no doubt eager to avenge three defeats last term, it will be fascinating to see whether Andrews takes a similar approach at Villa Park or looks to impose the high-energy, front-footed football that has served Brentford so well this season.
Scout report
Dan Long, Sky Sports: The rebuild for new-look Villa
For the second time in three seasons, Aston Villa finished fourth last term as they continued to reestablish themselves as one of the Premier League’s heavy hitters.
Between 28 September and 27 December, Unai Emery’s side won 12 of their 13 league games and, for long periods, looked capable of finishing in the top three for only the second time in their history.
Results were far too inconsistent throughout the second half of 2025/26 for that - they won six of the last 18, for context. But Champions League qualification was secured again. Not that they needed their league position to secure it, mind you.
In the Europa League, they thrived, which was hardly a surprise, given Emery had four previous triumphs in the competition on his CV: three with Sevilla, one with Villarreal.
12 wins from 14 games took them to the final in Istanbul, where Freiburg were no match. By the time Morgan Rogers scored in the 58th minute, it was 3-0 and game over. That night in May, Villa won their first major trophy since the 1995/96 League Cup.
“We played in a very serious way this year,” said Emery afterwards. “This final is the confirmation of how we are progressing.”
The problem for Villa was that the cost of their success was rapidly increasing. With two prior fines handed down for breaching UEFA’s squad cost ratio (SCR) regulations, they knew they had to take action to comply.
Cue a very hectic summer transfer window, during which the spine of the team was sold: Youri Tielemans to Manchester United, Ezri Konsa to Arsenal, Emi Martínez to Chelsea, Ollie Watkins to Al Hilal and, most notably, Morgan Rogers also to Chelsea for £117m - the all-time record fee paid for an English player.
They reportedly spent more than £250m on replacements, including Johan Manzambi, who starred for Switzerland at the World Cup, striker Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea and Japan international goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
It was a rebuild in the truest sense of the word.
Emery’s new-look team took four games to score their first Premier League goal of the season and five to pick up their first Premier League win, against Tottenham just before the international break.
But they are up and running in cup competitions after a 3-1 win victory against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup and a 3-2 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League league phase.
There are signs the new team is beginning to gel - and if Emery can replicate anything close to last season’s success in spite of the wholesale changes, it could be one of his finest achievements yet.
In the Dugout
Unai Emery
Having taken charge of more than 1,000 matches over the last 22 years, Unai Emery is one of the most experienced managers currently working in the Premier League.
After a career as a midfielder, mostly playing in the second tier of Spanish football, the Spaniard had a pretty quick transition into management, having suffered a serious knee injury in his early 30s. He helped the now-defunct Lorca Deportiva gain promotion in 2004/05 and got Almería into La Liga for the first time in 2006/07, before an incredible eighth-place finish the following campaign.
In 2008, his exploits saw him move on to Valencia, whom he guided to three straight third-place finishes from 2010 to 2012, before a forgettable six-month spell in Russia with Spartak Moscow. He returned to Spain in January 2013 and guided Sevilla to three-successive Europa League titles.
Two years and seven trophies with Paris Saint-Germain followed, with Emery then trusted by the Arsenal board to become the successor to Arsène Wenger, which was, to an extent, a poisoned chalice. The Europa League king guided the Gunners to the final in 2019, where they were beaten by Chelsea in Baku, Azerbaijan, but he was unable to help them finish higher than fifth for the first time in four seasons.
He was dismissed after 18 months in November 2019 and appointed by Villarreal in July 2020, with - you’ve guessed it - a fourth Europa League triumph 10 months later, by way of a penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United in Gdańsk, Poland.
Emery turned down an approach by Newcastle United in November 2021, but came back to England to replace Steven Gerrard at Villa Park in October 2022. The 54-year-old - under contract until the summer of 2029 – reached 200 games in charge of Aston Villa last month and is the club’s longest-serving manager since Ron Saunders, who left in February 1982 after more than 350 games.
The Gameplan
With Patrick Rowe, Sky Sports
Sky Sports journalist Patrick Rowe has explained how Aston Villa are likely to approach Saturday's game.
"It is new personnel, but the same formation really. It looks to be a 4-4-2, with one of Emi Buendía or Johan Manzambi playing off the striker," Rowe told brentfordfc.com.
"Boubacar Kamara, one of the best midfielders in the league, in my opinion, will likely be paired with João Gomes in midfield. John McGinn plays out on the right, but loves to cut in. Buendía also drifts infield from the left.
"Do not be surprised to see one of Ibrahim Mbaye or Alejandro Garnacho featuring out wide, though.
"The new-look backline could feature Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Matty Cash at right-back. Matteo Ruggeri, the new signing from Atlético Madrid, did very well at left-back last time out. Villa need him given the injury to Ian Maatsen."
Last Premier League starting XI v Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Suzuki; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelöf, Mings, Ruggeri; Kamara, João Gomes; McGinn, Manzambi, Buendía; Jackson
Match Officials
Pawson to oversee Villa Park clash
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistants: Lee Betts and Matthew Wilkes
Fourth official: Anthony Backhouse
VAR: Peter Bankes
Craig Pawson will take charge of Brentford's Premier League away game against Aston Villa.
Pawson has overseen three games across the Premier League and Carabao Cup so far this term, dishing out 11 yellow cards and zero reds.
Brentford won two and drew one of the three games that the Sheffield referee had the whistle for last term.
Last meeting
Aston Villa 0 Brentford 1, (Premier League, 1 February 2026)
A first-half strike from Dango Ouattara saw 10-man Brentford secure a first-ever away victory against Aston Villa.
The Burkina Faso forward rifled a fine finish into the top corner shortly after Kevin Schade had been sent off, before a resolute second-half display saw the Bees claim an historic win.