Villa versus Forest: Premier League Preview
Preamble
Greetings and welcome to this English top-flight encounter between Aston Villa and Forest. Aston Villa are the expected winners to win in this lunchtime start as they are excelling this season and are currently occupying third place, while Forest are in 17th position and just four points outside of the drop zone.
The two teams are coming into the game following a setback as Villa were beaten 4-1 by league-leading Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton.
It will be a difficult task for the visitors to come away with all three points with Villa possessing one of the best home records 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 confirmed XIs will be released shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT.
Confirmed Lineups
The team news is in. The Villa boss has made four changes to his starting XI who lost 4-1 to Arsenal last time around.
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 starting 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 remarked on his opponent today:
"He has done a excellent job as a manager there. Their recruitment has been good - spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve forged it into a strong side, so definitely a difficult game.
We’ve just demonstrated lately, we’ve played against some of the top sides, or the ones that are tipped every year, and held our own against them - and a couple of teams perhaps not as highly-rated, we haven’t done as well against them. That’s likely the test of the group - meeting the challenge of each game rather than just the major fixtures."
Squad News
Harvey Elliott has no future at Aston Villa, an update that was stated by the manager Unai Emery in the lead-up to this match. The boss commented:
"We respect him as much as possible because he’s a top professional, very respectful. The problem we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan and if he is playing matches, we are obligated to buy him. We made the decision two months ago we are not persuaded to sign him, committing the money we would need to."
Form Guide
The tables have turned. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager on two occasions and the current boss is charged with keeping the club in the top-flight this season. Since being named manager on 21 October, Dyche has secured 10 Premier League points and the side are just above the relegation zone with 19 games of the season to go.
