Premier League | Gameweek 31

Apr 5, 2025 at 5.30pm UK

Villa Park

Aston Villa vs Nott'm Forest

Match preview

Belatedly adding goals as well as assists to his repertoire in an Aston Villa shirt, the rejuvenated Marcus Rashford followed up his brace against Preston North End in the FA Cup quarter-finals with his first Premier League goal in another three-goal win for the Lions.

The Red Devils loanee's strike early in the second period was preceded by two super-sub goals from Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen to give Villa a third successive 3-0 win in all competitions and their sixth on the spin by any scoreline as they head into the spring.

The hosts are still capable of an astonishing Champions League and FA Cup double, but with only seventh in the Premier League and some way to go to reach the top four, it would be fair to say that the top flight remains Unai Emery's priority.

Villa's mission to dine at the top of Europe via the Premier League has been aided by a superb run of home form, now unbeaten in 14 consecutive top-flight games at Villa Park, where only Arsenal have beaten Emery's side in the competition in the 2024-25 season.

The West Midlands outfit could also set a unique club record in 2024-25, having won three Premier League home games when conceding the first goal, but never before have they won four at Villa Park when going 1-0 down.

However, as both Manchester City and now Man United will have learnt in 2025, going 1-0 down against Nottingham Forest is something to be avoided, as Nuno Espirito Santo's men kept a firm grip on the Premier League's bronze medal with a narrow win in midweek.

With the likes of Rashford and Antony thriving elsewhere, it was former Man United forward Anthony Elanga who coincidentally had the last laugh against his old employers with a superb solo run and finish to make it five wins in a row for the Garibaldi in all competitions.

Santo's men are also preparing for a trip to Wembley to take on Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals, but defensive shortcomings on the road will need to be addressed if they are to set up a potential final with Villa and come away from Saturday's game with something to show for their efforts.

Indeed, Forest have conceded at least twice in each of their last four Premier League away games - conceding 13 goals in total, an average of over three per game - although their 54% win rate on the road is still their best ever in a top-flight season.

Prior to Elanga's heroics against Man United, the dazzling Swede also scored Forest's stunning 2-1 comeback win at Villa in December, when they came within 90 minutes of completing a first ever Premier League double against the Champions League quarter-finalists.

Recent Performance

Aston Villa Premier League form:DDWLWW

Aston Villa form (all competitions):WWWWWW

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:LLDWWW

Nottingham Forest form (all competitions):DWWWWW

Team News

A sour note in Villa's win at Brighton was a late injury to Morgan Rogers, who limped off four minutes from time, although there is no word yet on how serious the problem is.

Emery is not short of options up front, however, with recent goalscorers Malen and Asensio both capable of replacing Rogers on the right; of Villa's last seven home goals, six have come from Asensio.

Ross Barkley (knee) and Leon Bailey (knock) are the hosts' only other fitness concerns for Saturday, but the former is back in training and the latter could even return to add to Emery's attacking options.

Meanwhile, Forest managed to get the job done against Man United despite the absence of Chris Wood; the 33-year-old is still nursing a hip problem picked up on international duty and is a doubt for this game at the time of writing.

Santo was also without Callum Hudson-Odoi for personal reasons, but the winger will be back in contention, while Ola Aina left the field in the first half with a calf problem and will be out for a while.

Aina's absence on Saturday will be compounded by the fact that Alex Moreno is unable to play for his parent club, meaning either Morato or forgotten man Harry Toffolo will have to deputise at full-back.

Possible starting lineup

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Disasi, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Tielemans; Asensio, Ramsey, Rashford; Watkins

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato; Dominguez, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Awoniyi