Aston Villa handed 'big plus' going into Brentford clash amid 'difficult team selection'

Unai Emery must do what he can to avoid changing a winning team when Aston Villa host Brentford on Saturday.

That is the opinion of former senior Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The Villans will make their return to club action with both players returning from injury and fresh issues, picked up on international duty.

Villa beat Tottenham 3-2 before the break, finally picking up their first three points of the season after what had been a dismal start.

Emery's side beat Sevilla in a friendly last week, too, and the Spaniard will hope that his side have turned a corner.

But the visit of Brentford will see Villa tested even more intensely, with Keith Andrews' side currently representing one of the most dangerous teams in the Premier League.

'Villa will be back up and running if they can win'

Despite some concerns, it appears that most Villa players have escaped the international break without injury.

In fact, for Emery, the dilemma comes more in the form of the potential introduction of the returning Pau Torres, among others, to the starting line up.

"The lift was the last league game against Tottenham. That was a big plus for Villa," King told Football Insider. "Although going to Tottenham, it seems as though everybody goes to Tottenham and wins, doesn't it?

"I fancy Villa. Although the last time they played at Villa Park, Brentford won 1-0. They must be very buoyant, although they've had players away on international duty.

"This is the thing that's a bit difficult for us to programme these games, is because we don't know who's fit and who's well coming back from international duty. On form, you'd say that Brentford will probably get a result up there."

Asked about the Villa team, King added: "When you've got a side that's getting results, and if everybody's fit, you're going to try and keep that team. The atmosphere's there within the club, within your team.

"There's a good feeling, but it'll be a big test. It's a big game for Villa. I mean, if they can win this one, they're back up and running, as you'd say, because Brentford are one of the form teams in the league at the moment."

Villa hold supercomputer advantage

While Brentford have experienced a far stronger start to the season, the quality of Villa is hard to argue against.

According to Opta's supercomputer, the Villans have a 47.8 per cent chance of winning at Villa Park on Saturday.

Brentford, on the other hand, have been handed just a 26.2 per cent chance of emerging victorious.

Emery will hope a positive result could well kick off a winning run similar to the one Villa enjoyed last season.