🔗 Share this article Aston Villa v Forest: Top-Flight Match Preview Preamble Welcome everyone 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 sitting third, while Forest are in 17th position and just a handful of points outside of the drop zone. Each side are coming into the game on the back of a setback as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. It will be a tough task for the visitors to come away with all three points with Villa boasting one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also recorded a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? The answer will be revealed very soon. The confirmed XIs will drop 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. Bench: 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. Dugout Insights Forest boss Sean Dyche has said on his counterpart today: "He has done a great job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been impressive - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve forged it into a good unit, so definitely a tough game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve taken on some of the top sides, or the ones that are favoured every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams maybe not as highly-rated, we haven't performed as strongly against them. That’s probably the test of the group - meeting the challenge of each game rather than just the big games." Player Situation The midfielder has will not be staying at Aston Villa, news that was stated by the manager Unai Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss commented: "We respect him all we can because he’s a very good professional, very respectful. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is a loan player 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, committing the money we would need to." League Context How times change. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager twice and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being named manager on 21 October, Dyche has won 10 Premier League points and the side are just outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.
Preamble Welcome everyone 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 sitting third, while Forest are in 17th position and just a handful of points outside of the drop zone. Each side are coming into the game on the back of a setback as Villa were overcome 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton. It will be a tough task for the visitors to come away with all three points with Villa boasting one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also recorded a team record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? The answer will be revealed very soon. The confirmed XIs will drop 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. Bench: 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.
Dugout Insights Forest boss Sean Dyche has said on his counterpart today: "He has done a great job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been impressive - invested a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve forged it into a good unit, so definitely a tough game. We’ve just shown lately, we’ve taken on some of the top sides, or the ones that are favoured every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams maybe not as highly-rated, we haven't performed as strongly against them. That’s probably the test of the group - meeting the challenge of each game rather than just the big games."
Player Situation The midfielder has will not be staying at Aston Villa, news that was stated by the manager Unai Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss commented: "We respect him all we can because he’s a very good professional, very respectful. The situation we have with Harvey is this year he is a loan player 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, committing the money we would need to."
League Context How times change. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager twice and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the Premier League this season. Since being named manager on 21 October, Dyche has won 10 Premier League points and the side are just outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season remaining.