Aston Villa have the chance to go second within the desk on Saturday (12:30 GMT) after they host a Nottingham Forest facet who’re winless of their six most up-to-date Premier League away video games on this fixture, dropping the final 5, since a 2-0 victory in October 1994.
Vanquished Villa search house comforts
All good issues should come to an finish however Aston Villa’s employees, gamers and supporters may afford to be phlegmatic in regards to the defeat at Arsenal which ended a membership record-equalling 11-match successful run in all competitions.
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Villa now path the league leaders by six factors after a chastening second half on Tuesday evening however, maybe extra pertinently with Champions League qualification in thoughts, their first defeat in 9 league video games was mitigated by outcomes elsewhere.
All 4 groups instantly beneath Villa within the desk didn’t win at house in midweek, making certain Unai Emery’s facet have a nine-point cushion over fifth-placed Chelsea.
The Villans ended 2025 with a membership document 36 wins in a calendar yr in all competitions, with 22 of these coming from their 27 fixtures at Villa Park. No facet in Europe’s high 5 leagues has a greater house document for the reason that begin of final yr.
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Villa have solely misplaced to Crystal Palace, twice, in 40 house video games since September 2024 and so they’re concentrating on an eleventh successive house win for the primary time in 36 years.
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Key first-team gamers Boubacar Kamara and Matty Money return after serving one-match bans, whereas Brazilian 19-year-old proper winger for an preliminary £8.7m from Gremio.
Forest in want of “killer moments”
A yr in the past, Nottingham Forest had been the place Aston Villa are actually – third within the desk, six factors off the highest. They started 2025 with a sixth successive league victory however, 12 months on, sit fourth backside after a run of three straight defeats.
It was a defeat at Villa Park in April which started Forest’s slide from third place with eight video games remaining final season to an eventual end of seventh.
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Sean Dyche is the membership’s third head coach since then and unease across the membership was heightened by Tuesday’s insipid house defeat towards Everton. Forest had 70% possession and tried 52 crosses – their highest figures in a Premier League recreation since promotion in 2022 – however Dyche lamented his facet’s incapacity to engineer “a killer second”.
Goalscoring has been a problem for all of them season. Solely winless Wolves have fewer targets and a worse shot conversion price, whereas no crew has failed to attain in additional Premier League video games this season than Nottingham Forest.
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The place Dyche has seen hope is in his facet’s performances towards high-profile opposition, saying: “We’ve risen to the massive video games.” He is proper – they’ve overwhelmed Liverpool and Tottenham, drawn towards Manchester United and had been unfortunate in defeat towards Manchester Metropolis final weekend.