At A Glance
Aston Villa are flying high heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park.
Successive away wins against Chelsea and Leicester City see Unai Emery’s team come into the match in a season-high seventh place.
A six-game unbeaten run has been compiled as Villa now look to win their third consecutive home match for the first time this season.
Nottingham Forest are lurking just above the relegation zone after a winless sequence spanning eight games and dating back to early February.
Despite taking the lead at Leeds United last time out, Steve Cooper’s team fell to a 2-1 loss.
Defeat at Elland Road left Forest with the worst away record in the top flight, with six points collected from 14 games.
Standout Stats
This is the 100th top-flight meeting between the clubs. Aston Villa lead by 45 wins to Nottingham Forest's 30, with 24 draws.
Forest's only win in the past 15 league and cup meetings was 2-1 at home in the Championship in February 2017 (D7, L7).
Villa host Nottingham Forest for the first time since a 5-5 draw in the Championship in November 2018.
Aston Villa are unbeaten in six league matches. A fourth straight win would equal their best run since returning to the top flight in 2019.
Forest's eight-match winless league streak is currently the longest in the division (D3, L5).
Villa are vying to register three consecutive Premier League home victories in a season for the first time since a streak of four from August to October 2007.
Steve Cooper's side have failed to win a league-high eight matches in which they opened the scoring, dropping 20 points (D4, L4).
Villa’s tally of 44 points after 29 matches is only one short of last season's final total.
Nottingham Forest have gone nine Premier League away fixtures without a win against sides from the Midlands since beating Coventry City 3-0 in August 1996, losing their last six in a row.
Villa have earned 32 points since Unai Emery's first game in charge on 6 November - only Arsenal and Manchester City have fared better during that period.
The Villans have scored in all 16 league fixtures under the Spaniard, the longest current run of any team.
The Last Meeting
Ashley Young scored a stunning long-range strike at The City Ground to earn Aston Villa a draw in October.
The defender became the club’s second-oldest Premier League goalscorer after Peter Schmeichel when he levelled the scores at 1-1 on 22 minutes.
Young’s equaliser came just seven minutes after Emmanuel Dennis had headed The Reds in front.
Team News
Emery has ruled Boubacar Kamara out of the game after the midfielder missed Tuesday’s win at Leicester.
Philippe Coutinho and Matty Cash will also miss out.
After limping off in midweek, Emmanuel Dennis is a doubt for Forest.
Ryan Yates and Jesse Lingard have also been nursing injuries and will be assessed.
The Boss
“We have to adapt and respect them, and we are doing it. We have to know how they’re going to play tomorrow and we’re analysing the matches they’ve played, like against Leeds. Sometimes they are playing with a striker, sometimes not. We have to adapt and we have to see tomorrow, immediately, how they are responding on the pitch. We have to impose our idea and be on the pitch with good positioning, trying to control the game in our style. That’s the improvement I want to see tomorrow.”
Unai Emery
