The Keith Andrews era is off and running – but Saturday was another worrying misfire from the Aston Villa attack.
We distil the action at Brentford into our next Gameweek 2 Scout Notes.
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- READ MORE: FPL notes: Ait-Nouri injury + Frank on the value of clean sheets
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 2: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
DANGO’S DREAM DEBUT
Dango Ouattara (£6.0m) had a debut to remember on Saturday. A first Brentford goal, a clean sheet point and maximum bonus were decent enough but the winger also threw in a couple of defensive contribution (DC/DefCon) points for good measure.
The Brentford teamsheet looked a damned sight healthier this week. For kick-off, it was complete change in the attacking midfield trident behind Igor Thiago (£6.0m). Dango made his debut, Kevin Schade (£7.0m) was fit to start after being reduced to substitute duty in Gameweek 1, and Mikkel Damsgaard (£5.9m) was back from paternity leave.
Compare that to the poor display last week, when a second-string line of Fabio Carvalho (£5.0m), Antoni Milambo (£5.5m) and Keane Lewis-Potter (£5.0m) were behind Thiago. Lewis-Potter was moved back to left-back this week, and he looked much more comfortable there.
While Dango got the headlines, Damsgaard’s importance to this Brentford side can’t be underestimated. He’s the man who makes the team tick and knits it all together. Denied a goal by a dubious VAR call, he also shot off target after a superb bit of fleet-footed play.
It’s too early to say how effectively this half-new-look attack will function. Brentford got their early goal here and from the 28th minute onwards, they only had one shot. One-nil up, the onus was on Villa to attack, and the Bees set about defending manfully:
BRENTFORD THE EARLY DEFCON KINGS
As a result of the game-state, a whopping six Brentford players picked up DefCon points.
Just to show how much of the match was about a collective defending effort, three of those were defenders, one was a central midfielder, one was a ’10’ and one was a right-winger:
Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m) is one of only six Premier League players (so far) to have banked DefCon points in both Gameweeks 1 and 2. This is a mere continuation of what we saw of him at centre-half last season, with his run-outs at right-back in 2024/25 somewhat masking his true DC potential.
ANDREWS ON WISSA
Despite suggesting Yoane Wissa (£7.5m) could be involved on Saturday, Keith Andrews left him out of the squad.
The Brentford manager’s post-match quotes were a bit colder than his pre-match ones.
“Felt it was right for the group. I needed a group today that was absolutely committed to performing, to showing what show what we’re about.” – Keith Andrews on why he didn’t include Yoane Wissa
VILLA’S CREATIVITY STRUGGLES
Villa are still on zero goals after two Gameweeks, something we weren’t expecting to say.
There have been blows over the summer in terms of the squad depth, from the end of loan spells for Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford to the exit of Jacob Ramsey (£5.5m), but pre-season didn’t hint at an upcoming drought.
And nine of their starters against Brentford on Saturday also started in Gameweek 2 of 2024/25. Had Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) not been suspended, it would have been 10. Not that much change in the personnel, then.
But there’s been a strange shortage in creativity this season. Even before Konsa’s red card in Gameweek 1, Villa were struggling to carve out anything of note.
The same thing happened again at Brentford, with Villa racking up 17 shots but not really having any massive chances of note. Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) had a shot snuffed out at the last moment, while Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) had four efforts, the best opportunity being an 80th-minute mishit.
After two matches, Villa are 18th for xG – although it’s still a very small sample, of course.
History suggests Unai Emery will find a way. Could he be a little bolder and call on the likes of Evann Guessand (£6.5m), Donyell Malen (£5.4m) and/or Ian Maatsen (£4.5m) from the start next week? Could a transfer or two in the final week of the window liven up the attack? If the injury that forced Boubacar Kamara (£5.0m) off on Saturday turns out to be serious, that’d be one way of emboldening the starting XI, as there’s no other real defensive midfielder to take his place.
The fixtures remain good (the best, according to the ticker), although low blocks in Gameweeks 3 and 4 will put any attacking shortcomings under the spotlight:
