Aston Villa have won seven of the last eight, scored 16, conceded only two and climbed from the confines of mid-table to sixth. They are very much into contention for European football for the first time since 2010/11.

Whatever happens from here, a top-10 finish seems nailed on for Unai Emery’s side – and there is a strong, new foundation from which to build for next season, too.

Aston Villa are sixth in the Premier League with seven games left to play. How would you sum up their season to date?

It has been a pretty weird season, which is always the way when there is a managerial change.

The first 11 games under Steven Gerrard were really poor; Villa were just three points off bottom when he was sacked and there were genuine concerns they were going to get relegated because they were that bad and lots of players were underperforming.

But since Unai Emery came in, Villa have been completely transformed. They are creating an identity now, there is a clear way of working and a new culture at the club, so everyone is pulling in the same direction. It feels like the players are very happy working under the methods of Emery and the recent form has been amazing.

Villa are now in sixth and probably going to finish in the top half, at worst, for the first time in 12 years, which will represent a really good season. There is a chance of getting European football, too, which Villa have long craved. So it has been a weird season and a difficult one to analyse because it really has been a story of two segments.

As you said, Emery took over from Gerrard in November and the team have been on an upward trajectory ever since. First of all, how have the Villa fans taken to him?

The fans really love him and everything he touches turns to gold. Even with his substitutions and the players he chooses to bring on. Bertrand Traore is the key man to highlight with this point because he was sent out on loan to Istanbul Basaksehir under Gerrard, but then recalled early by Emery and he has scored two really important goals in the last two games he has featured in.

Villa fans took a little bit of time to buy into Emery’s methods of passing out from the back and there was some criticism early on, questioning why they were doing that and causing themselves some difficulties. Now, they trust in him – and anyone who does not is mad because of the results and the performances!

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on?

Ollie Watkins is the man getting all the headlines at the moment and will, presumably, take up a lot of Brentford’s time when the pre-game analysis is done. He is in great form and can score with both feet and his head, so has been causing teams problems. He has scored in his last six away games, so will certainly be looking to make that seven in a row in west London.

The centre-back pairing of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa are playing really well and have helped to keep five clean sheets in the last seven games at the time of speaking, which just goes to show how tight they are as a defensive unit.

A lot of Villa’s attacks now go through left-back Alex Moreno, who almost plays as a left winger, so he is another one to keep an eye on.

How is Emery likely to set up his side at the Gtech?

Villa have been playing the same formation for the last three or four months now. It is a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-4-2, whichever way you want to look at it.

Emi Martinez will be in goal, Ashley Young at right-back, Mings and Konsa the centre-backs, Moreno left-back. The two sitting midfielders will be John McGinn and Douglas Luiz and the two slightly in front of those two will be Emi Buendia and Jacob Ramsey. Then it will be Traore to come in for the injured Leon Bailey alongside Watkins in the two forward positions.

It has been working quite well. Villa play out from the back and are very controlled in possession; they take their time and try to build through the goalkeeper and the two centre-backs. They can mix it up, too, and occasionally Martinez will kick it long and look for that ball down the channel, but it is very rare.

They typically have two or three patterns of play that they work on, and they have scored a lot of goals from that.

Villa’s 4-0 win over Brentford earlier this season was their first win in the fixture since 1953. What’s your score prediction for this one?

That was a pretty amazing game, wasn’t it? Brentford are Villa’s bogey side, so it was good for them to finally win on that occasion, especially with it being during Aaron Danks’ time as caretaker manager.

It is going to take a brave person to bet against Villa at the moment, so I’m going to go for a 2-0 away win.