Aston Villa welcome Nottingham Forest to Villa Park for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final matchup on Thursday evening.
The first leg was underwhelming to say the least. Forest edged it thanks to a Chris Wood penalty, although Villa won’t be too dispirited heading into the second leg.
Will Unai Emery finally get the chance to lead his side into a final? Or will Forest move into their first European final since 1980?
Let’s just hope the second leg is more entertaining than the first.
Aston Villa are under pressure to deliver
Emery’s men enter this clash in poor form. The loss at the City Ground last week sandwiched two Premier League defeats to Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
Villa currently have a six-point advantage over Bournemouth in the race for the final Champions League spot. It feels as though complacency is beginning to set in, however.
Although the first leg was evenly balanced, the Midlands side trail by a single goal and have it all to do if they wish to make their first European final since 1982.
Home advantage could well be the key factor for Emery and his side. This season, Villa have secured wins over Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United at home, losing only six times at Villa Park throughout the entirety of the 2025/26 campaign.
As such, The Villans remain slight favourites to progress into the Europa League final, but only if there is an improvement in performance from the first leg.
Vitor Pereira has Nottingham Forest peaking at the right time
A few short months ago, Forest looked as good as relegated. Under Pereira, however, a dramatic upturn in results has given them plenty of confidence.
While Premier League safety remains the ultimate aim, surely the chance of winning a European trophy is now on the minds of the supporters?
Remarkably, Forest have won five consecutive matches in all competitions heading into this second-leg clash. Ten goals were scored across three matches against Porto, Burnley and Sunderland, which was followed by the narrow 1-0 win in the first leg last week.
On Monday, a brace from Taiwo Awonyi and an Igor Jesus penalty gave Forest a superb victory over Chelsea, building confidence ahead of the second leg.
Perhaps the only downside is Forest have had 24 hours less recovery time than Villa. Will this catch up with them on Thursday?
Team news and predictions
John McGinn was absent for the defeat to Spurs over the weekend, but he will return to the starting XI on Thursday. As will Ollie Watkins. The striker was given just 30 minutes last time out, but he will be unleashed from the start against Forest.
Amadou Onana might miss the game due to a calf strain, while Boubacar Kamara is definitely out injured and Ross Barkley isn’t eligible for the competition.
Nicolo Savona, Callum Hudson-Odoi, John Victor and Willy Boly remain out for Pereira ahead of this semi-final second leg clash.
Elsewhere, Ibrahim Sangare, Murillo and Ola Aina are sidelined, with Dan Ndoye a doubt for the game.
There is no doubt that we are in for another tense encounter this week. Villa have won nine successive European matches at home, which might give them the edge, but Forest are in much better form.
I expect this game to go to extra time, with Villa going on to win 2-1 on aggregate.
