Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest tips and predictions: Visitors to extend run of stubborn away form
- George Dempsey
- 22 February 2024
Aston Villa will look to start a new winning run at Villa Park when they face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon (1500 GMT).
Two teams with contrasting form taking place at opposite ends of the Premier League table face off when Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Villans' 2-1 win away to Fulham was desperately needed to maintain their grip on fourth place after several poor results at home.
Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United have all won at Villa Park in 2024 so the hosts will want to make the most of this particular fixture.
Despite masterminding a short-lived revival around the festive period, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have won just one of their last five matches.
Credit where it’s due for getting the job done but beating a 10-man West Ham side in freefall isn’t deserving of much credit. Sorry, Hammers fans.
On the other hand, their haul of five points from away games to Wolves, Newcastle, Brentford and Bournemouth is at least worth a doff of the cap.
They showed commendable fighting spirit in all four of those matches and can consider themselves unlucky to have lost 3-2 against Brentford.
Villa will be expected to record a straight-forward win but until we see the hosts back at their best, Forest merit backing as they have shown improvement.
Both teams to score seems a good starting point seeing as Forest have scored in 10 of 11 on their travels and both teams have scored in nine of 11 Villa home games.
Team news
Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Jhon Duran, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa are ruled out for Aston Villa.
Unai Emery could opt to name an unchanged side from the one that won 2-1 at Fulham, but Moussa Diaby is an option alongside Ollie Watkins should he favour a more attacking look.
Nottingham Forest will be without target man Chris Wood and World Cup winner Gonzalo Montiel.
Ibrahim Sangare, Ola Aina and Willy Boly are expected to be in the squad after recovering from African Cup of Nations duty.
Key stats
- Aston Villa have lost their last three matches at Villa Park
- Aston Villa are unbeaten in six of seven meetings with Forest
- Aston Villa are looking to avenge the 2-0 defeat they suffered at the City Ground
- Nottingham Forest have won one of their previous five
- Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have allowed 1.62 goals per game during his reign
