🔗 Share this article Villa versus Forest: Top-Flight Preview Opening Thoughts Greetings and welcome to this Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Forest. The home side are the expected winners to win in this early kick-off as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are 17th and just a handful of points outside of the drop zone. The two teams are coming into the game off of the back of a setback as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton. It will be a challenging task for Forest to come away with all three points with Villa having one of the best home records in Europe at the moment and they also set a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? The answer will be revealed very soon. The confirmed XIs will be released shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT. Confirmed Lineups The lineups have been confirmed. Unai Emery has made a quartet of alterations to his starting XI who lost 4-1 to Arsenal in their previous match. 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 likewise made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 loss to Everton. Nott’m Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina. Bench: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott. Pre-Match Quotes Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his opponent today: "He’s [Unai Emery] done a excellent job as a manager there. Their signings has been impressive - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some top players and they’ve shaped it into a strong side, so certainly a challenging game. We’ve just demonstrated lately, we’ve taken on some of the top sides, or the ones that are favoured every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as fancied, we struggled more against them. That’s probably the challenge of the group - meeting the expectation of each game rather than just the big games." Player Situation The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, news that was confirmed by the manager Unai Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss commented: "I am respecting him all we can because he’s a top professional, very dedicated. The problem we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan and if he is playing matches, we are obligated to buy him. We decided two months ago we are not convinced to make the move permanent, spending the money we would need to." Form Guide The tables have turned. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have altered, including the manager twice and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being appointed on 21 October, Dyche has won 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the bottom three with 19 games of the season to go.
Opening Thoughts Greetings and welcome to this Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Forest. The home side are the expected winners to win in this early kick-off as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are 17th and just a handful of points outside of the drop zone. The two teams are coming into the game off of the back of a setback as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton. It will be a challenging task for Forest to come away with all three points with Villa having one of the best home records in Europe at the moment and they also set a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? The answer will be revealed very soon. The confirmed XIs will be released shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT.
Confirmed Lineups The lineups have been confirmed. Unai Emery has made a quartet of alterations to his starting XI who lost 4-1 to Arsenal in their previous match. 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 likewise made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 loss to Everton. Nott’m Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina. Bench: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.
Pre-Match Quotes Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his opponent today: "He’s [Unai Emery] done a excellent job as a manager there. Their signings has been impressive - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some top players and they’ve shaped it into a strong side, so certainly a challenging game. We’ve just demonstrated lately, we’ve taken on some of the top sides, or the ones that are favoured every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as fancied, we struggled more against them. That’s probably the challenge of the group - meeting the expectation of each game rather than just the big games."
Player Situation The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, news that was confirmed by the manager Unai Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss commented: "I am respecting him all we can because he’s a top professional, very dedicated. The problem we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan and if he is playing matches, we are obligated to buy him. We decided two months ago we are not convinced to make the move permanent, spending the money we would need to."
Form Guide The tables have turned. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have altered, including the manager twice and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being appointed on 21 October, Dyche has won 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the bottom three with 19 games of the season to go.