The joint first-placed sides in the Barclays Premier Reserve League South meet at Brentford tonight as Chelsea host Aston Villa.

Only alphabetical order separates the two teams at the top of the table, both sides with identical goal records from their three wins out of three.

Chelsea will go into tonight's game, which is live on Chelsea TV, with extra confidence following an impressive 4-0 win in a prestigious friendly against AC Milan nine days ago.

Seven of that team begin tonight including Sam Hutchinson and Gaël Kakuta (pictured) who will both be enjoying their first competitive starts of the season having overcome injury.

Italian Fabio Borini will lead the attack. The 17-year-old is currently the highest scorer at the club, having netted two reserve goals, five youth and one in the Milan friendly.

The more senior reserve striker, Morten Nielsen, played on Sunday for Denmark Under 19s, scoring a equalising penalty in the second-half before France Under 19s won the game 2-1 with a late goal.

Junior international action also keeps Michael Woods and Michael Mancienne away from tonight's game but Scott Sinclair plays in a Chelsea side that looks full of attacking potential.

With Rhys Taylor currently with Wales Under 21s, Hilario is asked to keep goal; Carlo Cudicini having performed the duty in the last league game.

There is also a first start of the reserve season for midfielder Tom Taiwo, recently returned from loan at Port Vale.

Aston Villa were last season's champions in the southern section, although they were held to a draw away to Chelsea in their final game, Franco Di Santo on target for the Blues back in April.

However the progression of young players means six of those who contested last season's FA Youth Cup semi-final in opposition this evening. An older and even more familiar face is Steve Sidwell. The former Chelsea man continues his comeback from injury with a start in the Villa midfield.

The Chelsea team tonight is:
Henrique Hilario, Nana Ofori-Twumasi, Liam Bridcutt (c), Sam Hutchinson, Carl Magnay, Tom Taiwo, Fabio Ferreira, Sergio Tejera, Fabio Borini, Gaël Kakuta, Scott Sinclair.

Subs: Nick Heimann, Jacob Mellis, Ricardo Fernandes, Jordan Tabor, Frank Nouble.

Villa:
Elliott Parish, Eric Lichaj, Stephen O'Halloran, Steve Sidwell, Matthew Roome, Ciaran Clark, Chris Herd, Barry Bannan, Sam Williams, James Collins, Zoltan Stieber.

Subs: Thomas Dau, Nathan Baker, Harry Forrester, Shane Lowry, Will Grocott.

The game is at Brentford's Griffin Park with a 7pm kick-off. Admission is £5 for adults, £3 for oaps/juvs, free to season ticket holders.

The game will be broadcast live as part of Chelsea TV's Monday Night Live programme.

Jason Cundy will provide expert analysis from the Chelsea TV studio. There will be pre-match thought and post-match reaction from reserve manager Brendan Rodgers.