Aston Villa travel to Brentford this weekend, with Unai Emery's side looking to keep their Champions League hopes alive with another win in west London.
The Villans have been in superb form in recent weeks, winning seven and drawing one of their last eight Premier League fixtures, which has put the Midlands outfit in with a great chance of securing European football for next season.
However, with six points separating Villa and the top four and just seven games remaining, Emery's side could still achieve their Champions League dream should they continue their unbeaten run until the end of the campaign.
Brentford away represents an extremely tricky game for Emery's high-fliers, and the key to picking up three points could be keeping talismanic striker Ivan Toney quiet.
For that reason, we think the Spaniard should consider unleashing Diego Carlos for the first time since August, as the former Sevilla man has not been given a runout since recovering from his long-term injury.
Should Villa unleash Carlos vs Brentford?
The 30-year-old, who earns £100k per week, would join Villa in a deal worth £26m last summer, but disaster struck on his home debut against Everton as he ruptured an Achilles tendon which has kept him out for much of the season.
However, he has returned to the bench in recent weeks and has been left to watch on as the Villans enjoy an impressive unbeaten run, but he could still play his part in helping Emery's side finish the season strongly.
Last season saw the centre-back average a strong 6.75 match rating from WhoScored for his performances in La Liga, with an average of 2.4 aerials won and 3.5 clearances per game.
Neither Ezri Konsa nor Tyrone Mings – who have been part of Emery's preferred centre-back partnership since he took over – can match that from their overall displays this season, while he also beats Konsa for clearances per game, as well as both players for aerials won.
This suggests that in the long term, he could be a better option for Emery at centre-back, and with one of the Premier League's most in-form strikers set to test Villa's defence on Saturday, it might be the perfect time to unleash Carlos.
Toney has contributed an impressive 18 goals and four assists in 29 Premier League appearances this season, while he is also crucial to Thomas Frank's side's build-up play, as he has won the third-most aerial duels per game of any Brentford player.
Carlos is a man who has been dubbed a "monster" by Ollie Watkins, and his physicality and ability in the air could see Villa silence Toney this weekend, so surely Emery must seriously consider giving him his first start since August.
