Emi Buendia for Aston Villa
Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Aston Villa host Brentford at Villa Park this afternoon, looking to build on the victory over Tottenham Hotspur prior to the recent international break.
Unai Emery’s men are in desperate need of a solid run of impressive performances after only claiming one triumph during the first five outings of the new season.
However, if they are to claim all three points against Keith Andrews’ men in the West Midlands, they will have to put an end to their recent dreadful form against the Bees.
How Villa have fared against Brentford in recent years
Over the last couple of years, Brentford have proven to be somewhat of a bogey team for Aston Villa in their ongoing hunt for success across a variety of competitions.
Emery’s men have failed to secure victory in any of the last three clashes with the Bees, two of which came in the Premier League and one in the Carabao Cup.
REUTERS/Paul Childs
The Villans suffered a penalty shootout loss to Saturday’s opponents 13 months ago and put an early end to any hopes of yet another famous cup run.
Both matches in England’s top-flight ended in a 1-0 win for this afternoon’s visitors, as Dango Ouattara netted both goals in the encounters at Villa Park and the GTEC.
The last of the three meetings came in February earlier this season, with five of the starters from such a defeat no longer plying their trade in the West Midlands.
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|Aston Villa vs Brentford - last eight meetings|
|Date|Result|Villa outcome|
|---|
|1 Feb 2026|Aston Villa 0–1 Brentford|Loss|
|16 Sep 2025|Brentford 1–1 Aston Villa*|Draw|
|23 Aug 2025|Brentford 1–0 Aston Villa|Loss|
|8 Mar 2025|Brentford 0–1 Aston Villa|Win|
|4 Dec 2024|Aston Villa 3–1 Brentford|Win|
|6 Apr 2024|Aston Villa 3–3 Brentford|Draw|
|17 Dec 2023|Brentford 1–2 Aston Villa|Win|
|22 Apr 2023|Brentford 1–1 Aston Villa|Draw|
Emery’s men registered a staggering 27 shots during the aforementioned encounter, but were unable to find the net - with the manager no doubt hoping to rectify such a record later on today.
Aston Villa team news ahead of Brentford clash
If Villa are to finally put an end to the recent losing run against Brentford, they are going to have to do it without multiple senior members of the first-team squad.
During his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Emery confirmed that Ian Maatsen will remain sidelined with his ankle issue sustained against Nottingham Forest.
REUTERS/Tony O Brien
Amadou Onana is a long-term absentee for the Villans, but the Spaniard did confirm that the Belgian was progressing very well throughout his recovery.
Leon Goretzka is still yet to make a senior appearance after his summer arrival, but the supporters will have to wait to see the German despite returning to training.
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Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka.
Full-back Matty Cash has also returned to training in recent weeks and could be available for the meeting with the Bees at Villa Park later on this afternoon.
Why Emery should replace Buendia with Aston Villa star
Despite scoring during the final game before the international break, winger Emi Buendia could find himself on the bench for today’s meeting with Brentford.
The Argentine’s strike against Spurs was his first of the new campaign, but has only papered over the cracks of his struggles within the senior ranks in the West Midlands.
He’s ranked in the bottom 20% of all players in the division for passes completed this term, whilst only being able to lay on 0.9 chances created per 90 in the first five games of the campaign.
As a result, the manager should hand another attacker a chance to showcase his worth in the final third, which could see Alejandro Garnacho handed his first start since his summer move from Chelsea.
The Argentine, who joined on loan with an obligation to buy for £43m, has been limited to just 31 minutes off league action this term, but all of his action has come off the bench.
Chelsea's Alejandro Garnacho during the warm up before the match
During the break, the 22-year-old has been put through a mini pre-season to get back to full fitness and have a positive impact on the senior ranks at Villa Park.
Emery spoke about the attacker during his press conference, stating: “He’s improving. The two weeks we worked were very important. He played 90 minutes in both matches.
“He showed his quality at Chelsea and Manchester United. He’s still young, he joined us to exploit his qualities, but firstly prepare his body and his football - he’s doing it.”
His goal against Sevilla during the break could hand him the confidence booster he’s been hunting for after failing to hit the ground running after his summer move.
Garnacho has an excellent record against today’s opponents too, with the former Manchester United man avoiding defeat in five of the six games he’s featured against the Bees.
As a result, he’s only lost 17% of the games he’s played against Andrews’ men - which could hand the Villans the platform needed to end the recent losing run.
Garnacho
Such a call may be an unpopular one, but his unpredictable nature could pose a huge threat to Brentford during this afternoon’s meeting at Villa Park.
Emery may be questioned should he decide to hand Garnacho a start, but it could be a blessing in disguise if he can contribute to a second league win of the season.
Jack-Grealish-Aston-Villa