Unai Emery is unfazed by the prospect of Aston Villa competing on three fronts over the coming months, as they continue their Premier League title bid against Brentford.
Villa sit four points adrift of leaders Arsenal and are only behind second-placed Manchester City on goal difference, going into matchday 24.
The Opta supercomputer assigns Emery's team a 9.2% chance of winning the title, which is marginally higher than City's 9.1% probability, though Arsenal are still clear favourites at 81.5%.
Villa – who are also into the fourth round of the FA Cup – will skip the Europa League play-off round after finishing second in the league phase, behind Lyon, but Emery knows fixture congestion will be part and parcel of the run-in.
"It's been our routine for the last three years. We have been playing 55 matches [per season] in Europe, in the domestic league and in the cups," Emery said.
"And we want to keep it going. This consistency, these demands, I like it, and I want to challenge myself.
"We want this challenge each year, playing a lot of matches, like we are now. Of course, it's more work, more matches, more training sessions, but in football, 70% of our lives must be football.
"Training, resting at home, good food, good preparation, good work, good meetings together, and the players, they are all going this way."
Looking to the weekend pic.twitter.com/JxQ3861FbD
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 30, 2026
Sunday's visitors to Villa Park, Brentford, are eighth in the table, only five points adrift of the top four despite back-to-back 2-0 defeats to Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.
Keith Andrews knows his team face a very difficult test against Emery, a four-time Europa League winner, and his team.
"They're an amazingly well-coached team. They're very deliberate in the way they play the game, with and without the ball," Andrews said of Villa.
"They have a top, elite-level head coach. He's had the vast majority of that group for a long time.
"They have a set way of playing that can cause a lot of problems if you don't do things right, and they have top-level individuals within that who can really hurt you."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Aston Villa – Morgan Rogers
Only Bruno Fernandes' goals and assists have been worth more points to his team in the Premier League this season (17 to Manchester United) than Aston Villa's Rogers (15).
Rogers got Villa's first goal as they came from 2-0 down to defeat Salzburg 3-2 in the Europa League in midweek, taking him to nine goals for the season in all competitions.
Brentford – Michael Kayode
Kayode has launched 101 long throws into the box in the Premier League this season, more than any other player.
He has created eight chances from these throws, with no other player in the division creating more than two.
MATCH PREDICTION – ASTON VILLA WIN
Brentford won the reverse fixture against Aston Villa 1-0 in August – they have never won consecutive league meetings with the Villans before.
But it is fair to say Emery's men have turned a corner since these teams last met.
Villa were winless in their first five Premier League games this season (D2 L3), scoring just one goal.
However, since the start of matchday six on September 27, they have won more points (43) and more games (14) than any other side.
Following an eight-game winning run at home in the Premier League, Aston Villa lost 1-0 against Everton last time out at Villa Park.
They have not lost consecutive home league games since February 2024, though, and Brentford have lost eight away matches in the Premier League this season – only Wolves (nine) have suffered more defeats on their travels.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Aston Villa – 62.2%
Brentford – 17.8%
Draw – 20%