This has already been a remarkable run for both teams.

Wednesday have gotten past Bolton and, more remarkably, Premier League Leeds United, both on penalties with both teams scoring in both matches. These results have come about despite big rotation of a very small squad, including many players who haven’t played for Wednesday before outside of this run

It is likely that Henrik Pedersen will continue with this rotation, in no small part due to the success that it has had so far. Wednesday’s league form has begun to fall off a cliff, no surprise given the forced lack of investment in the personnel over the summer, so a return to the EFL Cup, given their success in the competition so far, should provide a bit of freedom and welcome respite.

Grimsby, of course, had their own remarkable penalty shoot-out win in the last round against Manchester United. This came after a 2-2 draw in normal time, showing that Grimsby are capable of scoring goals against higher league opposition.

The Mariners are actually unbeaten away from home so far in their league campaign, winning twice and drawing twice. They have scored 14 times from 14.9 xG in League Two, which is the second-highest number of goals in the league, but the best xG rate in the whole league.

Grimsby have a good chance of progression here, and David Artell is likely to set his team up to score more goals than the opposition with an attacking game plan, which could see an open match.

I am quite surprised to see that Villa are still favourites for this tie.

With the caveat that there will be major rotation across both teams, there is definitely a different feeling across the two clubs given their starts to the season. This is mainly as a result of the difference in expectations at the beginning of the season; Brentford have been touted as a potential relegation candidate, whereas Aston Villa have been accustomed to competing for European places under Unai Emery.

The fact that Villa have been so off-colour, especially from an attacking perspective, and with very little change and investment over the summer, there is a definite sense of apathy and concern around the fanbase, given their Premier League performances. There is also the matter of Villa’s very mediocre EFL Cup record; they have failed to progress beyond the fourth round in all but one of the last 12 campaigns, which indicates that it is generally not a priority for the club.

Brentford haven’t pulled up trees in the league, but their late equaliser against Chelsea on Saturday leaves them with four points from four matches, and Keith Andrews has already shown enough in this time to show that he is competent enough to be entrusted with the head coach role.

Also, we have already seen Brentford win this match in the league, and, although the personnel will be different, there is still that confidence in the Brentford camp, and for them to be viewed as outsiders here looks to be a decent opportunity for us to get involved.