🔗 Share this article Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest: Premier League Build-Up Introduction Welcome everyone to this Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Forest. Villa will be the strong favourites to win in this lunchtime start as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are 17th and just four points outside of the drop zone. Both clubs are coming into the game off of the back of a loss as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. This shapes up as a challenging task for the visitors to come away with all three points with Villa having one of the best home records in Europe at the moment and they also achieved a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But perhaps 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. Confirmed Lineups The starting XIs have been announced. Unai Emery has made a quartet of alterations to his starting lineup who lost 4-1 to Arsenal last time around. Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins. Substitutes: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba. Nottingham Forest have likewise made four adjustments to their starting squad after a 2-0 defeat 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 Forest boss Sean Dyche has commented on his opponent today: "He’s [Unai Emery] done a great job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been good - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and they’ve shaped it into a strong side, so definitely a challenging game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve played against some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are tipped every year, and done very well against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as highly-rated, we haven't performed as strongly against them. That’s likely the test of the group - rising to the expectation of each game rather than just the big games." Player Situation The midfielder has will not be staying at Aston Villa, an update that was revealed by the manager Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss said: "We respect him as much as possible because he’s a excellent professional, very respectful. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan 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, spending the money we need." Form Guide How times change. This time last year Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have shifted, including the manager on two occasions and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being appointed on 21 October, Dyche has secured 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.
Introduction Welcome everyone to this Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Forest. Villa will be the strong favourites to win in this lunchtime start as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are 17th and just four points outside of the drop zone. Both clubs are coming into the game off of the back of a loss as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. This shapes up as a challenging task for the visitors to come away with all three points with Villa having one of the best home records in Europe at the moment and they also achieved a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But perhaps 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.
Confirmed Lineups The starting XIs have been announced. Unai Emery has made a quartet of alterations to his starting lineup who lost 4-1 to Arsenal last time around. Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins. Substitutes: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba. Nottingham Forest have likewise made four adjustments to their starting squad after a 2-0 defeat 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 Forest boss Sean Dyche has commented on his opponent today: "He’s [Unai Emery] done a great job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been good - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and they’ve shaped it into a strong side, so definitely a challenging game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve played against some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are tipped every year, and done very well against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as highly-rated, we haven't performed as strongly against them. That’s likely the test of the group - rising to the expectation of each game rather than just the big games."
Player Situation The midfielder has will not be staying at Aston Villa, an update that was revealed by the manager Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss said: "We respect him as much as possible because he’s a excellent professional, very respectful. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan 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, spending the money we need."
Form Guide How times change. This time last year Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have shifted, including the manager on two occasions and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being appointed on 21 October, Dyche has secured 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.