The Bees and Villa meet after a three-week-long international break. This is the longest in-season break that Premier League teams will have had since the World Cup in Qatar.
Recent history
The Bees won all three match-ups last season, each tight games. The Bees won in the league at home, 1-0. A few weeks later, the Bees won on penalties, at home, in the Carabao Cup. And then in February, the Bees memorably held on to win 1-0 after going down to ten men in the first half. Keith Andrews will hope to keep his unbeaten streak alive against Villa boss, Unai Emery.
International break notes
There were plenty of players who answered the call from their respective national teams, but here are a few noteworthy ones for the Bees.
Kayode debut goal
Michael Kayode earned his first call up to the Italy senior team. He scored a debut goal against Turkey and went on to play in three games, starting twice.
Janelt debut
While he didn't score like Kayode, Vitaly Janelt did make his Germany debut. Well deserved for his consistently solid play at Brentford over the years.
Ajer goal
Defender Kristoffer Ajer started and played a full 90 minutes in each of Norway's four games during the break. He scored an impressive goal from outside the box in the most recent game against Portugal.
Damsgaard highs and lows
Mikkel Damsgaard started three games for Denmark, scoring a pair of goals and assisting another. Unfortunately, he left the pitch with an injury against Portugal. Hopefully he's able to bounce back quickly.
Opta Power Ranking
As of 6th October 2026, here's how the Opta Power Ranking looks for the two teams:
| Team | Global rank | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | #10 | 93.7 |
| Brentford | #13 | 93.0 |
This story was published on 07 October 2026. It was written by Dennis Flood. The image at the top of this story was generated using AI.
