🔗 Share this article Aston Villa against Forest: Top-Flight Match Preview Opening Thoughts Greetings and welcome to this Premier League clash between Villa and Forest. Aston Villa are the favourites to win in this early kick-off as they are excelling this season and are currently occupying third place, while Forest are in 17th position and just four points outside of the drop zone. The two teams are entering the game on the back of a setback as Villa were defeated 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. This shapes up as a challenging 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 set a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s a new year and a new narrative? The answer will be revealed very soon. The confirmed XIs will be announced shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT. Starting Elevens The team news is in. The Villa boss has made a quartet of alterations to his starting XI 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. Bench: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba. Nottingham Forest have likewise made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 defeat to Everton. Nott’m Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina. Substitutes: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott. Dugout Insights Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has remarked on his opponent today: "Emery has delivered a excellent job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been strong - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve shaped it into a cohesive team, so definitely a tough game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve taken on some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are fancied every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams maybe not as fancied, we struggled more against them. That’s likely the challenge of the group - meeting the challenge of each game rather than just the big games." Squad News The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, an update that was confirmed by the manager Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss stated: "I am respecting him as much as possible because he’s a top professional, very respectful. The issue we have with Harvey is this year he is a loan player and if he is playing matches, we are obligated to buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not persuaded to sign him, committing the money we need." Season Snapshot The tables have turned. This time last year Nottingham Forest were in third place in the table, where Aston Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager twice and the current boss 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 outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.
Opening Thoughts Greetings and welcome to this Premier League clash between Villa and Forest. Aston Villa are the favourites to win in this early kick-off as they are excelling this season and are currently occupying third place, while Forest are in 17th position and just four points outside of the drop zone. The two teams are entering the game on the back of a setback as Villa were defeated 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. This shapes up as a challenging 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 set a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s a new year and a new narrative? The answer will be revealed very soon. The confirmed XIs will be announced shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT.
Starting Elevens The team news is in. The Villa boss has made a quartet of alterations to his starting XI 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. Bench: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba. Nottingham Forest have likewise made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 defeat to Everton. Nott’m Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina. Substitutes: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.
Dugout Insights Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has remarked on his opponent today: "Emery has delivered a excellent job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been strong - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve shaped it into a cohesive team, so definitely a tough game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve taken on some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are fancied every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams maybe not as fancied, we struggled more against them. That’s likely the challenge of the group - meeting the challenge of each game rather than just the big games."
Squad News The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, an update that was confirmed by the manager Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss stated: "I am respecting him as much as possible because he’s a top professional, very respectful. The issue we have with Harvey is this year he is a loan player and if he is playing matches, we are obligated to buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not persuaded to sign him, committing the money we need."
Season Snapshot The tables have turned. This time last year Nottingham Forest were in third place in the table, where Aston Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager twice and the current boss 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 outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.