Unai Emery believes his Aston Villa side are in a strong position in their progress as a team after putting one foot in the knockout stages of the Champions League with their win over RB Leipzig.
Villa have won each of their last three matches in all competitions, having won just three of their previous thirteen matches (D5 L5), moving them up to third in the new 36-team standings.
The Villans know that a win against Monaco or Celtic in their last two Champions League games will see them move into the automatic positions in the table.
And while the victory satisfied Emery, his immediate focus was on Villa's upcoming trip to the City Ground this Saturday to take on Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
“Sometimes there comes a period of bad results. Sometimes good results now, with the three wins, two in the league and one today, can help us feel confident and strong in our process,” Emery said.
“Today we are happy, but now I am thinking about Saturday against Nottingham Forest and trying to quickly recover the players who played today and get the others ready.”
Tuesday's matchwinner Ross Barkley echoed his manager's thoughts, saying: “Importantly, we needed that win. It pushes us up the table and we have done very well in the Champions League.”
“We have to try to win the games one game at a time. That's our focus, that's our goal, to get through it, and now our eyes are on next weekend's game.”
GD MORNING pic.twitter.com/HgvrmyJQJu
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 11, 2024
But Forest are coming back from their own high after achieving back-to-back wins against Manchester United for the first time since 1992 with their 3-2 win at Old Trafford.
After recording just one win in four league games prior to Saturday's match, Forest got back on track and moved up to fifth in the Premier League.
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo understood the magnitude of the victory and urged supporters to enjoy it, stressing that their latest win is just the start of where he wants to take the club.
“It means a lot to us as a club. Forest is a huge club that has not experienced special moments for a long time. We must celebrate this and be proud of it,” said Nuno.
I'm thinking of Villa. Let the fans celebrate, now let's get ready for the next one.
“But I am very proud to be part of this group of players and the team. We are trying to do something together and build something beautiful.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood
Wood is one of only four players to score more than 10 goals in the Premier League this season, with only Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland (both 13) and Cole Palmer (11) scoring more than the New Zealander.
He is also the first Forest player to score ten Premier League goals in a season before Christmas, while he is the first Forest player to do so in a league period since Lewis Grabban in the Championship in 2021-2022.
Aston Villa – Jhon Duran
Duran, who turns 21 the day before Villa's visit to the City Ground, has scored 10 Premier League goals for the Villans, scoring the winner in four of their seven wins this season.
He is one of three players to score ten goals for Villa before turning 21, along with Gabriel Agbonlahor (13) and Luke Moore (11).
6 – Jhon Duran has scored six goals after coming on as a substitute in all competitions for Aston Villa this season – the most of any player for clubs in Europe's big five leagues in 2024-2025. Super. pic.twitter.com/hPseCcju8A
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION: Draw
This will be Forest's 5,000th match in the top four levels of English football, and the twelfth side to reach this milestone in the history of the English football league.
However, Saturday's hosts have won just one of their last eleven Premier League games against Villa (D5 L5), despite it being a 2-0 win in the exact same match last season.
But they've turned the City Ground into a fortress. Forest have won three of their last four home games in the Premier League (L1), the same as their previous seventeen games beforehand (W3 D4 L10).
Villa, meanwhile, are winless in their last five top-flight away games against Forest, although four of them have ended on level terms. Their last win was in January 1995 under Brian Little (2-1).
The Villans have lost each of their last three away games in the league, their longest run since losing four in a row from May to August 2022. All three defeats in their current spell have been by more than two goals – the last time they lost more by such a margin on the road in the league in September 1968 as a second-tier side (five).
Villa also won seven of their first twelve Premier League games under Emery against teams who started the day in the top five of the table (D1 L4), but have since lost five of their last seven (W1 D1), including all three this season, by an aggregate score of 7-0.
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Nottingham Forest – 36.2%
Draw – 26.2%
Aston Villa – 37.6%
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