🔗 Share this article Aston Villa against Forest: Premier League Match Preview Introduction Greetings and welcome to this English top-flight encounter between Aston Villa and Forest. Villa will be the favourites to win in this early kick-off as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are in 17th position and just a handful of points outside of the drop zone. The two teams are entering the game following a setback as Villa were defeated 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. It will be a difficult task for Forest to secure all three points with Villa boasting one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also recorded a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s a new year and a new narrative? We will find out very soon. The confirmed XIs will be released shortly before the start at 12.30pm GMT. Starting Elevens The starting XIs have been announced. Unai Emery has made a quartet of alterations to his starting lineup who were defeated by 4-1 to Arsenal in their previous match. Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins. Substitutes: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba. Forest have also made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 loss to Everton. Nottingham Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina. Bench: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott. Manager Comments Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his counterpart today: "He’s [Unai Emery] done a fantastic job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been good - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and they’ve moulded it into a cohesive team, so definitely a tough game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve played against some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are favoured every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as highly-rated, we haven’t done as well against them. That’s likely the challenge of the group - rising to the expectation of each game rather than just the big games." Player Situation The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, news that was stated by the manager Unai Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss stated: "We respect him as much as possible because he’s a very good professional, very dedicated. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is a loan player and if he is featuring regularly, we are obligated to buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we need." Season Snapshot How times change. This time last year Forest were in third place in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager on two occasions and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being named manager on 21 October, Dyche has accumulated 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.
Introduction Greetings and welcome to this English top-flight encounter between Aston Villa and Forest. Villa will be the favourites to win in this early kick-off as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are in 17th position and just a handful of points outside of the drop zone. The two teams are entering the game following a setback as Villa were defeated 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. It will be a difficult task for Forest to secure all three points with Villa boasting one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also recorded a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s a new year and a new narrative? We will find out very soon. The confirmed XIs will be released shortly before the start at 12.30pm GMT.
Starting Elevens The starting XIs have been announced. Unai Emery has made a quartet of alterations to his starting lineup who were defeated by 4-1 to Arsenal in their previous match. Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins. Substitutes: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba. Forest have also made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 loss to Everton. Nottingham Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina. Bench: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.
Manager Comments Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his counterpart today: "He’s [Unai Emery] done a fantastic job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been good - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and they’ve moulded it into a cohesive team, so definitely a tough game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve played against some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are favoured every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as highly-rated, we haven’t done as well against them. That’s likely the challenge of the group - rising to the expectation of each game rather than just the big games."
Player Situation The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, news that was stated by the manager Unai Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss stated: "We respect him as much as possible because he’s a very good professional, very dedicated. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is a loan player and if he is featuring regularly, we are obligated to buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we need."
Season Snapshot How times change. This time last year Forest were in third place in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager on two occasions and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being named manager on 21 October, Dyche has accumulated 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.