🔗 Share this article Aston Villa against Nottingham Forest: Top-Flight Preview Introduction Hello and welcome to this Premier League clash between Villa and Nottingham Forest. The home side are the expected winners to win in this lunchtime start as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are seventeenth and just four points outside of the drop zone. Both clubs are coming into the game following a loss as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton. This promises to be a tough task for Forest to come away with all three points with Villa possessing one of the best home records in Europe at the moment and they also set a club record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? All will become clear very soon. The confirmed XIs will drop shortly before the start at 12.30pm GMT. Confirmed Lineups The team news is in. Unai Emery has made four changes to his starting lineup who lost 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. Nottingham Forest have likewise made four adjustments to their matchday squad after a 2-0 defeat 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. Pre-Match Quotes Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his opponent today: "He has done a excellent job as a manager there. Their recruitment has been good - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and they’ve forged it into a cohesive team, so certainly a challenging game. We’ve just demonstrated lately, we’ve taken on 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 fancied, we haven't performed as strongly against them. That’s probably the challenge of the group - rising to the challenge of each game rather than just the big games." Transfer Update The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, an update that was revealed by the manager Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss said: "We respect him as much as possible because he’s a very good professional, very respectful. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan and if he is featuring regularly, we must buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not persuaded to make the move permanent, committing the money we would need to." League Context 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 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 secured 10 Premier League points and the side are just outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season to go.
Introduction Hello and welcome to this Premier League clash between Villa and Nottingham Forest. The home side are the expected winners to win in this lunchtime start as they are soaring this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are seventeenth and just four points outside of the drop zone. Both clubs are coming into the game following a loss as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton. This promises to be a tough task for Forest to come away with all three points with Villa possessing one of the best home records in Europe at the moment and they also set a club record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? All will become clear very soon. The confirmed XIs will drop shortly before the start at 12.30pm GMT.
Confirmed Lineups The team news is in. Unai Emery has made four changes to his starting lineup who lost 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. Nottingham Forest have likewise made four adjustments to their matchday squad after a 2-0 defeat 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.
Pre-Match Quotes Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his opponent today: "He has done a excellent job as a manager there. Their recruitment has been good - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and they’ve forged it into a cohesive team, so certainly a challenging game. We’ve just demonstrated lately, we’ve taken on 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 fancied, we haven't performed as strongly against them. That’s probably the challenge of the group - rising to the challenge of each game rather than just the big games."
Transfer Update The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, an update that was revealed by the manager Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss said: "We respect him as much as possible because he’s a very good professional, very respectful. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan and if he is featuring regularly, we must buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not persuaded to make the move permanent, committing the money we would need to."
League Context 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 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 secured 10 Premier League points and the side are just outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season to go.