Aston Villa versus Forest: Premier League Build-Up
Opening Thoughts
Greetings and welcome to this Premier League encounter between Aston Villa and Forest. Aston Villa are the strong favourites to win in this lunchtime start as they are soaring this season and are currently sitting third, while Nottingham Forest are seventeenth and just four points outside of the relegation zone.
The two teams are entering the game off of the back of a loss as Villa were defeated 4-1 by league-leading Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton.
This promises to be a difficult task for Sean Dycheâs side to come away with all three points with Villa having one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also achieved a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe itâs a new year and a new narrative? The answer will be revealed very soon.
The starting lineups will be released shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT.
Team News
The team news is in. The Villa boss has made four changes 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.
Bench: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba.
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.
Substitutes: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.
Pre-Match Quotes
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has commented on his opponent today:
"He has done a fantastic job as a manager there. Their recruitment has been strong - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some excellent players and theyâve shaped it into a good unit, so definitely a challenging game.
Weâve just demonstrated lately, weâve taken on some of the top sides, or the ones that are favoured every year, and done very well against them - and a couple of teams maybe not as fancied, we havenât done as well against them. Thatâs probably the test of the group - rising to the expectation of each game rather than just the major fixtures."
Player Situation
The midfielder has no future at Aston Villa, news that was confirmed by the manager Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss stated:
"I am respecting him as much as possible because heâs a excellent professional, very dedicated. The issue 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 need."
Form Guide
The tables have turned. This time last year Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager on two occasions and Sean Dyche is tasked 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 bottom three with 19 games of the season to go.
