Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats
Aston Villa will welcome Nottingham Forest to Villa Park in a huge Premier League game on Saturday afternoon.
West Midlands meets East Midlands with European implications, as third-placed Forest visits seventh-placed Villa.
A 3-0 win away to Brighton moved Unai Emery’s side above the Seagulls in the table, helping heap the pressure on Chelsea ahead of a busy few days for the Blues.
Forest’s 1-0 win against Manchester United maintained a six-point gap to Man City in fourth and a seven-point gap to Newcastle in fifth.
In what would be quite a turn up for the books, this season’s surprise package hasn’t given up on hunting Arsenal down and stealing second place.
But it’s the hosts with the greater need and the better form. On top of that, they may remember the manner of their defeat at the City Ground, where they led 1-0 until the 87th minute before collapsing.
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest prediction:
We have no problem backing Aston Villa to win this match, as Forest could be down a couple of key performers in Ola Aina and Chris Wood.
The Tricky Trees beat Man United 1-0 on Tuesday, but they were thoroughly undeserved of three points if you compare the quality of chances created.
The Villans have hit their stride recently. Not only have they won their last six matches, but they’ve also won each of the previous three by a 3-0 scoreline.
Nuno Espirito Santo will be forced into more rotation for this match, and it’s hard to believe that as they prepare to play their third match in a week, Forest don’t look even a little bit leggy.
Villa Park has been a fortress this season with only Arsenal winning there in the Premier League. Crystal Palace are the only other side to have won there in 24 matches across all competitions.
Before drawing 0-0 with Brighton in the FA Cup, Forest had leaked 15 goals in five matches on the road. That’s not the sort of form you want going up against a Villa side that scored four goals in last year’s fixture.
Aston Villa team news
Unai Emery rotated his side well when securing a sixth consecutive win against Brighton on Wednesday, with Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, and Marco Asensio among those on the bench.
Mings should return to partner Ezri Konsa at the heart of the defence while Matty Cash keeps his place on the right, and Maatsen comes back in on the left.
Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans will likely provide a stable midfield base for the attacking trio of Morgan Rogers, Asensio and Marcus Rashford.
Ollie Watkins came off the bench midweek, so he should be fit to start here, though we may see John McGinn retain his place if Rashford is needed up top.
Jacob Ramsey is also an option after seeing plenty of the ball in the win over Brighton.
Aston Villa expected line-up
Martinez – Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen – Kamara, Tielemans – Rogers, Asensio, Rashford – Watkins
Nottingham Forest team news
Nottingham Forest managed to keep Man United at bay on Tuesday despite playing 120 minutes against Brighton last weekend.
More rotation will be necessary after Ola Aina went down with an injury off the ball. That could mean Neco Williams moves to right-back, allowing Harry Toffolo to play on the left.
Alex Moreno is ineligible to play against his parent club.
Callum Hudson-Odoi missed Tuesday’s win due to personal reasons but he’s expected to be back in the squad for the trip to Villa.
Chris Wood is making good progress with a hip injury sustained during the international break. Taiwo Awoniyi hasn’t offered much in his absence, but it may be too soon for Wood to start.
Nottingham Forest expected line-up
Sels – Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Toffolo – Yates, Anderson – Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi – Awoniyi
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest: How to watch and listen
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest will be shown live on Sky Sports Ultra HDR, Main Event and Premier League at 17:30 on Saturday, April 5. There will be full-match commentary live on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest stats:
– These sides played out a wild 5-5 draw when they met in a Championship fixture at Villa Park in 2018.
– The hosts won this fixture 4-2 last season, and they’re looking to avenge a 2-1 defeat suffered in the reverse fixture.
– Villa are unbeaten in 14 home Premier League matches and in 22 of 24 across all competitions this campaign.
– Although Forest have won 10 of their previous 17 away matches in the league, they’re winless in five of six away games across all competitions.
– Both teams have scored in nine of Villa’s previous 10 home matches.
– There have been over 2.5 goals in eight of Forest’s last 10 away matches, with at least one team scoring two or more goals.
Unai Emery (Villa) quotes
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Nuno Espirito Santo (Forest) quotes
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Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest referee stats:
Few teams have enjoyed Simon Hooper’s presence more often than Forest, who have won a little over a third of the 26 matches he’s officiated.
Their most recent encounter came in February when they produced a historic 7-0 thrashing of poor Brighton.
They’ll have less fond memories of their trip to the Emirates Stadium which resulted in a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Only Brentford (52) have been shown more yellow cards than Forest (47) by Hooper, while they’re also one of five sides to have received more than one red card.
The Premier League referee has whipped his yellow card out 90 times in 19 appearances.
He’s yet to take charge of an Aston Villa fixture this season.