Patrick Rowe, Sky Sports: How Aston Villa will approach Brentford clash | OneFootball

Patrick Rowe, football journalist at Sky Sports, has explained how manager Unai Emery is likely to set up his Aston Villa side for Saturday’s game against Brentford in the Premier League.

Having impressed during pre-season, forward Donyell Malen could start at Gtech Community Stadium.

Aston Villa have had a pretty busy summer, in terms of both transfer business and pre-season friendlies. How do you assess it so far?

The summer was definitely busy on the friendlies front! It was a mixed bag from those games.

There were some impressive results against Roma and Villarreal, but eyebrows were raised when Walsall and a team from the German third tier beat them. It was only pre-season, after all, though.

Incomings have been slightly quieter. The club have been restricted financially, but there is an excitement about Evann Guessand.

Fans have not seen too much of him yet, but were calling for him to come on against Newcastle.

Overall, keeping key players has been the main positive of the summer so far - and Emiliano Martínez, Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Boubacar Kamara are all still in claret and blue.

Spines of a team do not get much better than that.

What have you made of the incomings and outgoings so far?

Jacob Ramsey’s sale has hurt the fanbase a touch. He is not the greatest player in terms of output, but the potential is there and a homegrown sale always cuts a bit deeper.

Villa will miss that added depth, but Donyell Malen looked really good in pre-season.

It’s cliché and likely something you only say when there are not many arrivals, but he is like a new signing!

With two goals and a few assists in pre-season, fans are calling for him to start at the Gtech.

For the third straight season, Villa will play in Europe, this time in a third different competition – the Europa League. Having reached the quarter-final of the Champions League last term, do you think they will have one eye on going all the way?

There is a real hope – through both Unai Emery’s expertise in the competition and the desperation to win a trophy for the first time since 1996 – that Villa can go all the way in this one.

With the Premier League also more competitive than ever and reinforcements at a minimum, it might also be the best way into the Champions League for this side - the Tottenham way, if you will.

Balancing those games will be the challenge and one or two signings, financials permitting, could be key.

Which player should Brentford be keeping an eye out for on Saturday?

The obvious one would be Ollie Watkins. He is returning to his former club and was red-hot in pre-season, with five goals in as many games.

A wildcard pick would be Malen. He did not get the chance against Newcastle due to Ezri Konsa’s red card, but given his showings in the summer, I expect him to start this game.

It has been a slow start to his Villa career, despite impressing in flashes. If he gets a chance, I expect him to do everything in his power to nail down a starting role in this side.

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

Unai Emery has been tampering with his squad in pre-season, with five at the back trialled at times. However, I expect the usual 4-4-2 for this game.

One player will be playing off Ollie Watkins up front, but these days, your guess is as good as mine as to who that will be!

It could be Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Donyell Malen or even Emiliano Buendía.

The latter seems to have worked his ways back into Emery’s plans at Villa after a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen last season.

What’s your score prediction?

That is a tough one. Neither of these sides had the best starts to the 2025/26 season, but I expect Villa to get a result here.

I will go with 2-0 to Villa.