18 Wins, 21 Games, 2nd.
- James
- 7 days ago
- 8 min read
Match Details
Match: #5809
Season: 2025-26
Matchday: #27
League Game: #20
Manager Game: #167
Date: Saturday, 3 January 2026
Venue: Villa Park
Kick off: 12.30pm
Manager: Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-
Last Five Games
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟥
Head to Head
Last 5 vs. Forest: 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟥
Total 🕒 134 | 🟩 W63 (47% ) | 🟨 D31 | 🇺(70% ) | 🟥 L40 (30% ) | ⚽ 232 | 🥅 190 | GD 42
Full Head to Head: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/nottingham-forest
Injury News
Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara return from suspension, but Amadou Onana is out after being Merino'd on Tuesday. Tyrone Mings, Ross Barkley and Pau Torres remain sidelined. Mings will miss his 13th consecutive game, and Pau Torres his sixth, as neither is expected to return until later in the New Year. Barkley is likely out until at least February.
As is the norm, Harvey Elliott probably won't make the squad, but there is no provision to automatically terminate his loan early.
Team News
Ollie Watkins starts after three in two games, John McGinn returns as do the suspended duo and TJ Carroll makes his first squad appearance.
Line Up
GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 |
RB Matty Cash | 🏴 🇵🇱 | 🔥 | 🔁 |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴 |
CB Victor Lindelöf | 🇸🇪 |
LB Ian Maatsen | 🇳🇱 | 🔁 |
DM Boubacar Kamara | 🇫🇷 |
CM Youri Tielemans | 🇧🇪 | 🔥 |
CM John McGinn | 🏴 | ⚽ | ⚽ | 🔁 |
AM Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | 🔁 |
AM Morgan Rogers | 🏴 | 🔥 |
CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴 | ⚽ | 🔁 |
Substitutes
🔁 | LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | for LB Ian Maatsen | 🇳🇱 | 69’ |
🔁 | LW Jadon Sancho | 🏴 | for AM Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | 69’ |
🔁 | RW Donyell Malen | 🇳🇱 | for CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴 | 83’ |
🔁 | DM Lamare Bogarde | 🇳🇱 | 🟨 | for CM John McGinn | 🏴 | 83’ |
🔁 | RB Andrés García | 🇪🇸 | for RB Matty Cash | 🏴 🇵🇱 | 90’ |
Unused Substitutes
GK Marco Bizot | 🇳🇱 |
CB TJ Carroll | 🏴 |
M George Hemmings | 🏴 |
CM Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba | 🏴 |
Did you know? TJ Carroll 🏴 becomes the 333rd youth team player to be promoted to the first-team squad.
First Half Timeline
⚽ 45’+1 Goal! 1-0, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Morgan Rogers
🕒 45’+3 HT Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest
Half-Time Insight
Attack vs. defence of the most horrid variety enlivened by Ollie's fourth goal in three.
Second Half Timeline
⚽ 49’ Goal! 2-0, John McGinn, Assist by Matty Cash
🥅 61’ Goal, 2-1, (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White
[🟨] 65’ Booking, (Nottingham Forest), Dilane Bakwa, Bad Foul
🔁 69’ Sub off, Ian Maatsen, Sub on, Lucas Digne
🔁 69’ Sub off, Emiliano Buendía, Sub on, Jadon Sancho
⚽ 73’ Goal! 3-1, John McGinn, Assist by Youri Tielemans
🔁 83’ Sub off, Ollie Watkins, Sub on, Donyell Malen
🔁 83’ Sub off, John McGinn, Sub on, Lamare Bogarde
[🟨] 89’ Booking, (Nottingham Forest), James McAtee, Bad Foul
🔁 90’ Sub off, Matty Cash, Sub on, Andrés García
🟨 90’+4 Booking, Lamare Bogarde, Bad Foul
🕒 90’+8 FT Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest
Full-Time Insight
SJM scores a second half brace after his miss of the decade last time out.
Villa make it 18 wins in 21 games, move second in the table with 18 games left to play.
Let's hear it from the "let's see where they are in January brigade".
Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5809
Head to Head
Last 5 vs. Forest: 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟩
Total 🕒 135 | 🟩 W64 (47% ) | 🟨 D31 | 🇺(70% ) | 🟥 L40 (30% ) | ⚽ 235 | 🥅 191 | GD 44
Full Head to Head: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/nottingham-forest
League Table
Officials
Referee: Simon Hooper | 🏴 | Wiltshire, 2013-
Game Rating: 6/10
Leniency beyond the call of duty, it wasn’t as if there weren’t clues that Forest would prove a physical side.
Referee: Simon Hooper | 🏴 | Wiltshire, 2013-
🕒 22 | 🟩 12 | 🟨 6 | 🟥 4 |
🕒 22 | 🟩 55% | 🟨 28% | 🟥 18% |
Cards 🟨 33 | 🟥 0 | 1.50 |
Opposition Cards 🟨 51 | 🟥 4 | 2.50 |
Penalty ⚽ 3 | 🥅 1 | ❌ 0 |
Disallowed ❌ 0 |
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟩
Full Referee History: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/referee/simon-hooper VAR: Paul Howard | 🏴 | London, 2025- Game Rating: 6/10
Another outing for the novice, probably too green to challenge Hooper but the repeated offences going unpunished are just as much his issue as Hooper's.
VAR: Paul Howard | 🏴 | London, 2025-
🕒 2 | 🟩 2 | 🟨 0 | 🟥 0 |
🕒 2 | 🟩 100% | 🟨 0% | 🟥 0% |
Cards 🟨 4 | 🟥 0 | 2.00 |
Opposition Cards 🟨 7 | 🟥 0 | 3.50 |
Penalty ⚽ 0 | 🥅 0 |
Last 5: 🟩 🟩
The Boss
🕒 167 | 🟩 | 94 🟨 | 29 🟥 44 | 1.87
Highest Win rate of any Villa manager: 56.29% Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay | 🏴 | Management Committee: 49.55%
Highest Top Flight Win rate of any Villa manager: 55.37%
Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay | 🏴 | Management Committee: 48.14%
On This Day
Villa make it eighteen wins in twenty-one games in all competitions.
Villa win their eleventh successive game at Villa Park in all competitions.
Ollie Watkins 🏴 makes his 250th appearance for Villa
Ollie Watkins 🏴 makes his 220th start for Villa
Ollie Watkins 🏴 makes his 160th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸
Ollie Watkins 🏴 moves ahead of Gabriel Agbonlahor’s 🏴 133 Goal Involvements in 391 appearances with 134 in 250 appearances.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ollie-watkins
TJ Carroll 🏴 becomes the 333rd youth team player to be promoted to the first-team squad.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tj-carroll
Matty Cash 🇵🇱 makes his 125th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸
Matty Cash 🇵🇱 makes his 180th start for Villa
Matty Cash 🇵🇱 wins his 10th consecutive game for Villa
Matty Cash 🇵🇱 contributes his 26th goal involvement for Villa on his 204th appearance.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/matty-cash
John McGinn 🏴 makes his 150th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸
John McGinn 🏴 contributes his 75th goal involvement on his 311th Villa appearance.
John McGinn 🏴 scores his 35th goal for Villa.
John McGinn 🏴 scores his 20th Premier League goal for Villa.
John McGinn 🏴 scores a Premier League brace for the first time in 223 appearances in the competition.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/john-mcginn
Ezri Konsa 🏴 equals Olof Mellberg's 🇸🇪 263 appearances for Villa
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ezri-konsa
Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 equals Gerry Hitchens' 🏴 160 appearances for Villa
Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 makes his 135th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lucas-digne
Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 secures his 115th win for Villa on his 231st appearance.
Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 concedes his 275th goal on his 231st appearance.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/emiliano-mart%C3%ADnez
Ian Maatsen 🇳🇱 makes his 65th appearance for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ian-maatsen
Boubacar Kamara 🇫🇷 wins his 12th consecutive game for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/boubacar-kamara
Jadon Sancho 🏴 makes his 10th substitute appearance for Villa.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jadon-sancho
Morgan Rogers 🏴 contributes his 35th Premier League goal involvement in 68 games.
Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/morgan-rogers
Villa’s 73.1% share of possession is their third highest in a Premier League game at Villa Park since Opta has recorded this data (2003-04).
Villa’s 645 passes in is their highest total in a single match in the Premier League this season.
Villa’s 574 successful passes (89.8%) are their most this league season.
Villa have scored 11 goals from outside the penalty area so far this season, more than any other team.
Only Ashley Young & Gabriel Agbonlahor (14), and Ashley Young & John Carew (14) have combined for more Premier League goals for Villa than Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins (10).
Tool(s) of the Day
There’s something about Morgan Gibbs-White - a lack of media training, maybe, but the lad has made a tool of himself on countless occasions in the last 12 months, bigging up Champions League qualification before March was out, claiming Europa qualification above Villa, before falling two places below and a general sentiment of not being the sharpest. We’ll not even mention trying to angle a move to Spuds, I mean, who would admit to that?
Cue his latest moronic nonsense: "We always know Villa start with a high press. So the key was to absorb that pressure and silence the fans a bit. We were unfortunate to concede right before half-time.”
Morgan, we’re not Arsenal, we’re not Spurs, we’re not ‘turn our back on our team’ City. We’re not ‘hire a boat down the Trent to celebrate Champions League qualification two months early’ (and as it turned out, entirely prematurely), we’re Aston Villa, and your deluded nonsense simply has no relevance to a serious football club.
Not wanting to be beaten by one of his acolytes, however, gravel-toned Nothampton native Sean Dyche weighed in with some prime Gerrard-esque nonsense, the like of which we hoped never to hear again.
After all, from bitter experience we all know that it is the last refuge of the desperate charlatan to talk about “basics” “worked on“ and “errors”,
Indeed, if such utterances should leave your mouth, you are not only admitting you are unqualified to be a manager at the top level, but you’re not qualified to run a Sunday League team and are literally the embodiment on earth of that chief charlatan, the evil Micah Richards.
But that didn’t stop the ginger, bald style Sean, despite being utterly overwhelmed and outplayed by a team not even in second gear:
"You can't give basic errors away to teams like this in the Premier League.”
"The mentality is there, but you can't keep giving yourself a mountain to climb. Players were switching off to the basics. We have worked on it and shown them, but this is the job. I never expected it to be easy when I got here."
Funny, Nuno made it look very, very easy twelve months ago, and as we all know, Nuno is a shockingly bad manager, unless Jorge Mendes feeds him on a staple diet of Portuguese ringers.
More on Dyche, famously, the Everton players chagrined that they were forced to play without a midfield during his torturous times at the Goodison dungeon, but at Forest, inheriting a midfield that cost €125m in laundered cash, plus a €50m loanee, his failure to utilise them is truly embarrassing.
Still, at least they’re good for the odd wanton foul, and given PGMOL’s “don’t book Forest” mandate authored by Sam Barrott with a foreword by Simon Hooper, they probably feel they have good value for money. The happy thing is now they’re in their natural downward spiral, and it has less consequence for the rest of us.
On the physical side of things, perhaps somewhat unnoticed by some, but Brighton, Wolves, Forest, Arsenal, Newcastle and others are masters in the dark arts and, for all the media fawning, are truly a damaging stain on English football that can be traced back to the anti-Christ Pulis. Little surprise then that Arsenal are known as the Billion Pound Stoke.
At some point, the cynicism will need to stop; otherwise, the game will truly eat itself, and all that will be left is a bald, ginger and an antsy Spaniard action man doll looking at the sky waiting for a ball to come down.
They don’t like it up ‘em
UTV x
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