English Premier
2026-01-03 - Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 3rd January 2025 - Kick Off 12:30pm
This game is live on TV
Aston Villa
After missing several good opportunities in the first half, Aston Villa were punished in the second at the home of Premier League leaders Arsenal. Unai Emery has long insisted his team are not really title contenders and the most pleasing part of the week would have been the fact that Champions League rivals all slipped in their pursuit of The Villans.
With all that said, Aston Villa are 3rd in the Premier League table ahead of the next round of fixtures and they are 9 points clear of 5th placed Chelsea at the halfway stage of the campaign. They are back at home this Saturday where Aston Villa have an impressive 7-1-1 record in the top flight.
Aston Villa had visited North London with an 11 game winning run behind them, but capitulated in the second half in the 4-1 defeat at Arsenal. The team will have to show character to bounce back just days later, but Aston Villa are at Villa Park where they have won 10 in a row in all competitions.
Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara were missed in the loss on Tuesday and both are available after serving a suspension. Amadou Onana is a doubt, while both Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres are hoping to be available sooner than later.
Nottingham Forest
Wasted chances proved to be costly in Nottingham Forest's home loss to Everton this past week and Sean Dyche is going to be looking for his players to make amends in this Midlands derby. Despite the improvements made under the third manager of the campaign, Nottingham Forest are still nervously looking over their shoulders at the teams in the relegation zone.
There are now 4 points between Nottingham Forest in 17th and West Ham United in the bottom three and it is The Tricky Trees who will play first this weekend. Increasing that gap would mean improving a 2-2-5 away record in the top flight where Nottingham Forest have scored 6 goals.
Nottingham Forest fans would have hoped the 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur could spark a positive run of form and finally put some distance between them and relegation, but 3 Premier League losses in a row have stunted progress. The side have lost their last 2 away Premier League games and both without scoring a goal.
Dan Ndoye could be available this weekend, but the likes of Ola Aina and Ryan Yates are expected to return later this month.
Head to Head
Last season both Premier League games between these clubs were won 2-1 by the home team.
Aston Villa have won the last 3 at Villa Park against Nottingham Forest.
Prediction
The festive run of games are always tricky to call and the results during the week were filled with upsets and draws.
Both of these teams played on Tuesday and so have had a bit more time to rest and recover after heavy defeats.
After putting together an 11 game winning run in all competitions, Aston Villa have to pick themselves up following the thumping loss at the Emirates Stadium. They actually did not play all that badly and certainly not as the final scoreline would suggest, but Arsenal were ruthless and Aston Villa simply were not.
They have a couple of key players back this weekend from suspension and Aston Villa have won 10 in a row at Villa Park in all competitions. However, there is a nagging doubt that it can be tough for teams to bounce back immediately when very long winning runs are ended and so there is a challenge for Unai Emery and his Coaching staff.
You would expect a fixture hosting a relegation battling opponent will help, but Nottingham Forest have been tough to read under Sean Dyche.
There have been some positive results and performances, but the 0-2 defeat to Everton on Tuesday will have really stung.
Back to back away Premier League games without scoring is another concern and Nottingham Forest have also been beaten on each of the last 3 visits to this part of the West Midlands.
Nothing is expected to come easy in this early kick off, but Aston Villa may just have the narrow edge and are worthy of backing to get back to winning ways.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest
