Nuno Espirito Santo's side are the surprise package in England's top flight this season, currently sitting in fifth place in the Premier League table.
Last weekend's 3-2 triumph over Manchester United at Old Trafford has kept the East Midlands outfit ahead of their Midlands rivals in the standings.
However, with the teams on the same points and Forest holding the slenderest of advantages on goal difference, their position in the table will change if they suffer defeat.
From Forest's perspective, though, they will be relying on Wood to continue his red-hot form in the Premier League and to potentially extend a peculiar statistic against Villa.
What record can Wood extend?
The New Zealand international's decisive strike versus United represented his 10th goal in 15 league appearances for Forest since the middle of August.
In nine outings versus Villa during his career, the 33-year-old has contributed four goals, those efforts coming in the colours of Leeds United and Burnley.
Six of those appearances have come from the starting lineup, with all four of his aforementioned strikes coming in the 79th minute and beyond.
This will be the first time that Wood is representing Forest against Villa in a Premier League fixture, the veteran frontman having been absent from the squad for the previous three such meetings.
As well as Wood theoretically eyeing another late goal against Villa, Forest will be bidding to extend their division-best run of opening the scoring in 12 Premier League fixtures during 2024-25.
Encouraging statistic for Forest...
Although Villa have recently returned to form with three successive wins against Brentford, Southampton and RB Leipzig, they have generally struggled in the games after Champions League fixtures.
Unai Emery's side have collected just two points from their most recent four such matches, something that has ultimately proven to be the difference in keeping them outside of the top four.
Furthermore, Villa are yet to score a single goal when facing a team sitting above them in the Premier League table this season.
Written by
Darren Plant
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