Preview: Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest - prediction, team news, lineups

The Villains have climbed to seventh following a run of five victories in six matches, while Forest are without a win in eight and find themselves outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Match preview

Aston Villa head into Saturday's showdown on the back of a 2-1 victory at Leicester City, with Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore grabbing the goals in a relatively comfortable midweek win for Unai Emery's men.

Thriving under the guidance of Emery, Watkins has taken his game to another level over the past few months, scoring eight goals in 10 Premier League matches to establish himself as one of the division's most prolific strikers.

When Aston Villa won just two of their opening 11 league games - suffering six defeats along the way - the club's hierarchy was left with little choice but to part company with Steven Gerrard and head in a different direction.

Remarkably, the Villains have won 10 of their 16 Premier League matches under Emery's watch, while only Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points than Villa since the four-time Europa League winner took the job.

After languishing in the bottom half of the table for much of the campaign, Aston Villa now find themselves nine points shy of the top four with nine games remaining, meaning that a European finish is a genuine possibility.

It appeared that the writing was on the wall for Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at Leeds United, but club owner Evangelos Marinakis publicly backed the manager to quash any speculation regarding Cooper's future.

There have been seven managerial casualties in the Premier League since the turn of the year, with fellow strugglers Everton, Leeds United, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Leicester all making a change, but Marinakis is prepared to give Cooper more time.

That said, the manager and the players will need to turn things around quickly, as Forest have failed to win any of their last eight league matches, recording three draws and five losses to leave them hovering just above the drop zone.

Unfortunately for the Tricky Trees, they hold the worst away record in the Premier League, having claimed a solitary victory on the road this season, with 10 defeats coming in their 14 away league games.

Having scored a measly five goals on their travels all season - conceding 34 in the process - Nottingham Forest will struggle to spark a much-needed improvement on the road against one the league's most in-form teams.

Aston Villa Premier League form:

W

W

D

W

W

W

Nottingham Forest Premier League form:

L

D

L

L

D

L

Team News

With Matty Cash sidelined through injury, Ashley Young - who netted a long-range rocket in the reverse fixture at the City Ground - will continue at right-back for Aston Villa.

The Villains will also be without injured duo Philippe Coutinho and Boubacar Kamara for the foreseeable future, while backup goalkeeper Jed Steer remains sidelined.

Leon Bailey is expected to support Ollie Watkins in attack, while Alex Moreno is likely to continue ahead of Lucas Digne at left-back, with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa occupying the centre-back roles.

Nottingham Forest's extensive injury list contains Dean Henderson, Chris Wood, Willy Boly, Scott McKenna, Giulian Biancone and Omar Richards.

There are also question marks over the fitness of Emmanuel Dennis, Serge Aurier and Ryan Yates, as Aurier and Yates have both missed the last two games.

On a brighter note, Taiwo Awoniyi is back from a lengthy injury layoff and could be handed his first start since January, supporting key forward Brennan Johnson, who has bagged eight Premier League goals this term.

Moussa Niakhate and Felipe appear to be Cooper's preferred centre-backs at the moment, while left-back Renan Lodi is expected to come back into the starting XI at the expense of Harry Toffolo.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Ramsey, McGinn, Luiz, Buendia; Bailey, Watkins

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Navas; Williams, Felipe, Niakhate, Lodi; Mangala, Freuler, Kouyate; Awoniyi, Gibbs-White, Johnson

We say: Aston Villa 3-0 Nottingham Forest

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