Aston Villa will be seeking to pick up three more points when Nottingham Forest visits Villa Park on Saturday after defeating Fulham at Craven Cottage last week.
Unai Emery’s team, who lost their previous meeting in November at the City Ground, will find it extremely difficult.
Even still, with 13 games remaining, the competition for the top four is heating up, and the Spanish team needs to strive to improve its form after going through a difficult period.
How Nottingham Forest could threaten Aston Villa
The Villans need to stay away from those lower in the standings since they still have games against Spurs, Liverpool, and away visits to Arsenal and Manchester City.
With a new manager in control of the Reds, Emery will be hoping his team has learned from their mistakes against Forest earlier in the season.
When the teams met in November in the Midlands, Steve Cooper’s team defeated Villa 2-0; however, on Saturday, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team will visit Villa Park.
One of the main distinctions between Nuno and Cooper’s lineups at Forest is where Morgan Gibbs-White is positioned. Under Nuno, he plays at number ten, but under Cooper, he drifts to the flank.
The Reds’ threat in the centre area increases right away when they start the Wolves academy graduate in the middle, and midfielder Nicolas Dominguez’s improving play also helps.
Why John McGinn must be at his best against Nottingham Forest
The Argentine has scored twice and provided an assist from deep midfield in his previous six Premier League appearances, so John McGinn will have his work cut out for him on Saturday.
In order to fill the vacuum left by Boubacar Kamara’s season-ending injury in Emery’s starting lineup, the Scotsman was used in midfield against Fulham.
While McGinn made an impression at Craven Cottage when he teamed up with Douglas Luiz in the engine room, Forest’s creative pair might be a more formidable opponent.
Gibbs-White, who plays in the central role and is a nuisance to the opponent, controls the attack more than any other Forest player, averaging 1.7 critical passes per game.
Nuno’s front line might be limited if the ‘terrific’ Villa captain—as Steven Gerrard once praised him—can snuff out the threat posed by the centre channel.
The 29-year-old demonstrated his combative edge to balance the midfield against Fulham by winning seven of his eleven ground duels. He needs to repeat this performance to make sure Saturday’s match goes how the hosts need it.
Unai Emery’s side have the fourth-best home record in the Premier League, picking up 28 points thus far.
Aston Villa close to 40-year scoring record
After Douglas Luiz scored against Manchester United last week, Villa has scored in each of their last 26 Premier League games at Villa Park, according to Aston Villa Statto.
The longest run they have had since Tony Barton’s team scored in 33 straight home games during the 1982–1983 season.
For Emery’s team to tie the record set more than 40 years ago, they would need to score in nine more home games in a row.
This season, Villa Park has been a difficult place to visit for Manchester City and Arsenal due to the efforts of the Spaniard.
Villa has gained seven less points while travelling, therefore his trip hasn’t been as successful.
Speaking in January, though, former Villa player Shay Given supported Emery in his efforts to turn the team’s fortunes around.
Given told BBC Sport, “I don’t think he [Emery] will be worried.”
“We are where we are,” he said in response to a question posed to him following the team’s two-goal deficit loss at Old Trafford, almost making fun of their current season.
High standards at Aston Villa
The fact that we are discussing Villa’s poor away performance emphasises the shift in perspective.
The fifth-best away point return in the Premier League belongs to Aston Villa. That is more than enough for most people.
However, given Emery’s driving standards, the team’s goal of finishing in the top four is likely dependent on trying to get better on the road.
The next game is against Nottingham Forest, which is a good matchup given Nuno Espirito Santo’s team’s struggles near the bottom of the table.
Villa have a great chance to separate themselves from Ange Postecoglou’s team this weekend because Tottenham aren’t playing.
Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins.
team overcame Fulham 2-1 thanks to two goals from Ollie Watkins, as they recovered from their defeat to Manchester United.
Tottenham’s defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers saw Aston Villamove back into the top four.
