Villa v Forest: Top-Flight Build-Up
Opening Thoughts
Hello and welcome to this English top-flight encounter between Villa and Forest. Villa will be the favourites to win in this early kick-off as they are flying this season and are currently in third, while Forest are seventeenth and just four points outside of the relegation zone.
Both clubs are entering the game following a setback as Villa were overcome 4-1 by league-leading Arsenal and Forest fell 2-0 to Everton.
This shapes up as a tough task for Sean Dyche’s side to obtain all three points with Villa having one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also achieved a club record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But perhaps it’s 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.
Starting Elevens
The lineups have been confirmed. 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.
Substitutes: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba.
Nottingham Forest have likewise made four changes to their matchday squad after a 2-0 loss 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.
Dugout Insights
Forest boss Sean Dyche has commented on his opponent today:
"He has done a fantastic job as a manager there. Their transfer business has been impressive - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve moulded it into a strong side, so definitely a challenging game.
We’ve just shown lately, we’ve taken on some of the larger clubs, or the ones that are favoured every year, and performed admirably against them - and a couple of teams maybe not as fancied, we haven’t done as well against them. That’s probably the test of the group - meeting the expectation of each game rather than just the big games."
Transfer Update
The midfielder has will not be staying at Aston Villa, news that was stated by the manager Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss said:
"I am respecting 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, spending the money we would need to."
Form Guide
What a difference a year makes. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Aston Villa are now. A lot of things have shifted, including the manager twice and the current boss is charged with keeping the club in the top-flight this season. Since being appointed on 21 October, Dyche has accumulated 10 Premier League points and the side are just outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season to go.