Forest (h) Preview

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-

Officials:

Referee: Simon Hooper | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wiltshire, 2013-

Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long

Fourth official: Thomas Bramall

VAR: Paul Howard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | London, 2025-

Assistant VAR: Samuel Barrott

Fixture History:

Villa’s 135th meeting with Forest

Total 🕒 134 | 🟩 W63 (47% ) | 🟨 D31 | 🇺(70% ) | 🟥 L40 (30% ) | ⚽ 232 | 🥅 190 | GD 42 https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/nottingham-forest

Did you know? Forest were our third ever opponent, playing them for the first time in 1880

https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/matches/opponent/legacy-numbers

Sequences:

Last 5 League Games: 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟥

Last 5 Home League Games: 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩

Last 5 vs. Forest: 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟩

Last 5 vs. Forest at Villa Park: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟩

Villa’s last 5 Premier League results vs. Forest at Villa Park:

🟩 5 Apr 2025, Villa 2-1 Forest, Villa Park

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5772

🟩 24 Feb 2024, Villa 4-2 Forest, Villa Park

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5707

🟩 8 Apr 2023, Villa 2-0 Forest, Villa Park

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5661

🟨 28 Nov 2018, Villa 5-5 Forest, Villa Park

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5468

🟩 23 Sep 2017, Villa 2-1 Forest, Villa Park

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5406

Last Win:

🟩 5 Apr 2025, Villa 2-1 Forest, Villa Park

Scorer(s): Morgan Rogers | 13’ | Donyell Malen | 15’ |

Assist(s): Youri Tielemans | 13’ | Ian Maatsen | 15’ |

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 | 🟨 |

RB Andrés García | 🇪🇸 | 🔁 |

CB Axel Disasi | 🇫🇷 |

CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

LB Ian Maatsen | 🇳🇱 | 🔥 |

M Amadou Onana | 🇧🇪 | 🔁 |

M Youri Tielemans | 🇧🇪 | 🔥 |

M Morgan Rogers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |

W Donyell Malen | 🇳🇱 | ⚽ | 🔁 |

W Marco Asensio | 🇪🇸 | 🟨 | 🔁 |

CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |

🔁 | CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for RB Andrés García | 🇪🇸 | 46’ |

🔁 | M Boubacar Kamara | 🇫🇷 | for M Amadou Onana | 🇧🇪 | 62’ |

🔁 | M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for W Donyell Malen | 🇳🇱 | 62’ |

🔁 | W Marcus Rashford | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 62’ |

🔁 | M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | for W Marco Asensio | 🇪🇸 | 73’ |

Full Match Report:

https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5772

The Opposition:

In a word, physical, often over the top under Nuno and unlikely to have calmed down under Dyche, although both managers play pseudo-Pulis ball, Dyche is a far less attack minded manager than Nuno. It'll take a poor Villa performance, a ridiculous error and refereeing calamity combined to lose this one. Three points for the visitors then.

Given Palace (a) is up next, this is an absolute "must get three points at all costs" fixture for Villa to prevent a negative cloud building after the first defeat in 12.

(Some of the above is laced with irony, other parts not)

Sequences

Last 5 League Games: 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟥 Last 5 Away League: 🟥 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟥

Last 5 vs. Villa: 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟥

Last 5 vs. Villa at Villa Park: 🟥 🟨 🟥 🟥 🟥 Forest sit 18th in the table, four points above the relegation places, but they have beaten Liverpool away this season, albeit at-a time when everyone was beating Liverpool, except Villa. Forest are twenty-one points behind Villa after nineteen games and are on a three game losing run coming into this game.

What could happen:

Villa will remain third in the table regardless of the result, but the twat pack could close the gap.

*Update*

Following favourable results, City & Liverpool drawing on Thursday, if Villa win on Saturday, they will move into outright second place in the table.

But let's not forget Villa make a habit of missing opportunities like this.

Ollie Watkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 could make his 250th appearance for Villa

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ollie-watkins

Matty Cash 🇵🇱 could make his 125th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/matty-cash

Matty Cash 🇵🇱 could make his 180th start for Villa

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/matty-cash

Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 could makes his 20th start for Villa

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lamare-bogarde

John McGinn 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 could makes his 150th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/john-mcginn

Ezri Konsa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 could equal Olof Mellberg's 🇸🇪 263 appearances for Villa

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ezri-konsa

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/olof-mellberg

Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 could equal Gerry Hitchens' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 160 appearances for Villa

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lucas-digne

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/gerry-hitchens

Referee History:

Referee: Simon Hooper | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wiltshire, 2013-

Full Referee History: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/referee/simon-hooper

Referee: Simon Hooper | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Wiltshire, 2013-

🕒 21 | 🟩 11 | 🟨 6 | 🟥 4 |

🕒 21 | 🟩 52% | 🟨 29% | 🟥 19% |

Cards 🟨 32 | 🟥 0 | 1.52 |

Opposition Cards 🟨 49 | 🟥 4 | 2.52 |

Penalty ⚽ 3 | 🥅 1 | ❌ 0 |

Disallowed ❌ 0 |

Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟩

One of our better referees on the circuit, 11 wins to 4 defeats, 1.52 cards per game to 2.52, 3 penalties to 1, unbeaten in last five.

Hooper has refereed Villa v Forest three times, all have been at Villa Park

🟩 5 Apr 2025, Villa 2-1 Forest, Villa Park

Scorer(s): Morgan Rogers | 13’ | Donyell Malen | 15’ |

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5772

🟨 28 Nov 2018, Villa 5-5 Forest, Villa Park

Scorer(s) | Tammy Abraham | 11’ | 14’ | 36’ (pen) | 71’ | Anwar El Ghazi | 75’ |

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5468

🟨 11 Sep 2016, Villa 2-2 Forest, Villa Park

​Scorer(s) | Ross McCormack | 72’ | Rudy Gestede | 74’ |

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5353

But let's not get too comfortable with the appointment as the dishonest individual/buffoon (delete as appropriate) that is Thomas Bramall is the fourth official.

Remember this, Thomas? https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5782

Incidentally, the raging bell hand has not refereed a Villa game since that atrocity of a performance.

VAR: Jarred Gillett | 🇦🇺 | Queensland, 2021-

For the second time in three games, the VAR is novice Paul Howard.

It really does feel like the Premier League and PGMOL like to use Villa as a test bed with another 'new' referee in Samuel Barrott as assistant VAR.

VAR: Paul Howard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | London, 2025-

🕒 1 | 🟩 1 | 🟨 0 | 🟥 0 |

🕒 1 | 🟩 100% | 🟨 0% | 🟥 0% |

Cards 🟨 3 | 🟥 0 | 3.00 |

Opposition Cards 🟨 5 | 🟥 0 | 5.00 |

Penalty ⚽ 0 | 🥅 0 |

Last 5: 🟩