[Pre-Match Thread] Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa

Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa

Competition: Premier League – Round 32

Date: Sun 12 Apr 2026

Kickoff: 14:00

Venue: The City Ground

Referee: Michael Salisbury

Aston Villa Statistics (all competitions)

Form: WLWWW

Goals per match: 1.5

Average Possession: 54%

Goals conceded per match: 1.2

Pass Accuracy: 85.6%

Shots per game: 12.5

Tackles per game: 15.1

Clean Sheets: 15

Nottingham Forest United Statistics (all competitions)

Form: LDWWD

Goals per match: 1.2

Average Possession: 49.1%

Goals conceded per match: 1

Pass Accuracy: 83.2%

Shots per game: 13.8

Tackles per game: 16.9

Clean Sheets: 13

Aston Villa Team News

• Alysson has returned to training, while Jadon Sancho is progressing well after picking up an injury during the international break. Both are potentially available for Sunday.

• Midfielder Boubacar Kamara remains a long-term injury absentee.

Nottingham Forest Team News

• Jair Cunha, Willy Boly, Nicola Savona, and John Victor are all out for Forest.

Match Facts

• Aston Villa are looking to complete the league double over Nottingham Forest for the first time since 2017-18, and for the first time in the Premier League since 1992-93.

• Nottingham Forest have won their last two home league games against Aston Villa, last winning three in a row against them between 1977 and 1979.

• Villa have lost three of their 17 Premier League games against Nottingham Forest (W9 D5). Among sides they’ve faced 15+ times in the competition, only against Coventry (16.7%) do they have a lower loss rate than against Forest (17.6%).

• Forest are winless in seven home league games (D4 L3), failing to score in their last three; the Tricky Trees last went longer without a home league goal in February 2018 in the Championship (5 games), and have only once done so in the top-flight (4 in April 1911).

• Aston Villa have lost both of their last two away games in the Premier League, last losing more in a row between November and December 2024 (5), a run which included a 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest.

• Nottingham Forest have scored 13 goals from 228 shots at the City Ground in the Premier League this season, a conversion rate of 5.7%. It’s the lowest home conversion rate by any side in a Premier League campaign since Fulham in 2020-21 (3.9%).

• Villa have scored 14 Premier League goals from outside the box this season, more than any other side, while only in 2007-08 (16) have they netted more in the competition. Conversely, only Tottenham Hotspur have conceded more times from outside the box in the division this season (11) than Nottingham Forest (9).

• In 2026, only Bruno Fernandes (12), João Pedro (10), and Igor Thiago (8) have more Premier League goal involvements than Morgan Gibbs-White (7 – 6 goals, 1 assist). However, just one of Gibbs-White’s goal involvements in the league this calendar year have come at the City Ground, scoring against Crystal Palace in February.

• Villa have won 14 of their 23 Premier League games in which John McGinn has started this season (61%), the highest ratio of any player to start 20+ league games for the club this season. When he hasn’t started, however, their win rate drops to 25% (2/8) in 2025-26.

How are you feeling? What's your starting XI? Predictions? UTV!