The State of Play
With injuries beginning to pile up and Aston Villa’s home form taking a major dip with three successive losses at Villa Park, The Villains earned a much-needed victory last weekend as they defeated Fulham by two goals to one at Craven Cottage with a brace from England international, Ollie Watkins, in that game. They begin this weekend sitting just about tucked inside the top four and the UEFA Champions League qualifying spots.
They now face a Nottingham Forest side that also earned a vital and stress relieving three points last weekend as Nuno Espirito Santo’s team beat a really poor West Ham United side by two goals to nil at the City Ground with strikes from Taiwo Awoniyi and Callum Hudson-Odoi late on in either half. They are still very much involved in the relegation battle, though, especially with suggestions they are likely to be docked points.
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Team News
Aston Villa, as mentioned, have some major key injury issues for this one with midfielder Boubacar Kamara out injured, whilst Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa are also missing and unavailable.
Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo will finally be able to welcome back the likes of Willy Boly, Ola Aina and Ibrahim Sangare after they competed in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Expected Line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Lenglet, Torres, Moreno; Luiz, Tielemans; Bailey, McGinn, Ramsey; Watkins
Nottingham Forest: Sels; Williams, Felipe, Murillo, Tavares; Dominguez, Danilo; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Awoniyi
What they Said
Unai Emery, who has been linked with Bayern Munich in the last few days, described himself as ‘proud’ in the aftermath of Villa’s defeat of Fulham last week.
Nuno Espirito Santo was full of praise for his Forest side as they defeated West Ham last weekend, saying that they ‘deserved’ the win at the City Ground.
When and How to Watch
This match is being played at Villa Park at 15:00 on Saturday February 24th but will not be televised live in the UK. It is also not available to be legally streamed, either.
Prediction
Aston Villa have had to deal with lots in the last couple of months but they are still pushing for a potential top four spot and UEFA Champions League qualification. They play a very high line and come up against a Nottingham Forest side that will be typically intent on playing deep, as is the way of Nuno Espirito Santo coached teams. Villa are favourites at Villa Park but the expectation is that it would be a low-scoring victory.
