The last time Aston Villa arrived at the City Ground for a Premier League game the club sat atop the Premier League table.
John Gregory’s Villans turned up at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, November 28, 1998, having just lost in the league for the first time, ending a 12-match unbeaten run to start the 1998/99 season.
A 4-2 loss at home to Liverpool seven days earlier meant Villa were keen to bounce back and keep their fine start to the campaign going against Dave Bassett’s Forest.

But the home side, who’d won the First Division the season before, had different ideas, and they took a two-goal lead at half-time thanks to Chris Bart-Williams and Dougie Freedman.
Gregory, who withdrew Paul Merson for Alan Thompson at the break, rallied Villa at half-time and got the desired response from his players.
Julian Joachim, restored to the starting line-up in place of Stan Collymore, pulled one back with 58 minutes on the clock.

The speedy striker completed the comeback five minutes later when he beat goalkeeper Dave Beasant to a loose ball and poked home the equaliser.
Chances came and went for both teams in the final stages, with Michael Oakes denying Forest at one end while Dion Dublin spurned a clear-cut chance at the other.
When the two sides met later in the season, a 2-0 victory at Villa Park helped the home side finish sixth in the table while Forest’s stay in the Premier League ended after one season as they finished bottom.
How Villa lined up...
Villa: Oakes, Southgate, Ehiogu, Wright, Taylor, Watson, Merson (Thompson 45), Barry, Hendrie, Joachim, Dublin.
Unused subs: Rachel, Scimeca, Grayson, Vassell.