Unai Emery doesn’t need Aston Villa to really feel downhearted after their loss to Arsenal and needs them to rise to the problem by bouncing again in opposition to Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal triumphed 4-1 on Tuesday in opposition to Villa, who noticed their eight-match successful run within the Premier League and a run of 11 straight victories in all competitions.
Nevertheless, Villa are again on dwelling soil for his or her first match of 2026, they usually have received every of their final 10 outings at Villa Park in all competitions, final having an extended run between October 1989 and January 1990 (11).
Villa are nonetheless third within the Premier League, although they’re now six factors behind Arsenal, however Emery remained constructive after the consequence and is eager to maintain pushing ahead.
“We’re going to play on Saturday, preserve the identical mentality we’ve got, and till now, very proud [of] every thing we’re doing with our supporters,” Emery mentioned.
“The league is essentially the most troublesome league on the planet, and there are 17 contenders originally of the season to be within the high seven, after which we try all the time to beat a few of them.
“Till now, we’re doing [that], however the problem we’ve got is evident: attempt to preserve the identical consistency, the identical calls for we’ve got, being formidable with our supporters.”
Beginning at our place pic.twitter.com/seRfHWVshf
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 1, 2026
Forest, in the meantime, are struggling on the different finish of the desk, sitting seventeenth, simply 4 factors above the relegation zone.
They’ve misplaced every of their final three matches, together with a 2-0 defeat to Sean Dyche’s former facet, Everton, final trip.
In a New Yr message, proprietor Evangelos Marinakis acknowledged that Forest will not be the place they wish to be, however he stays optimistic they’ll mount a stronger battle within the second half of the season.
“We must always all mirror on how far this membership has come and the way a lot has been achieved in solely a brief area of time,” Marinakis mentioned.
“Expectations have rightly been set very excessive – more difficult durations have demanded resilience and unity, and we’ve got proven ourselves able to each.
“These moments don’t outline us, nor do they diminish our long-term targets. United in goal and clear in course, we’re targeted on the long run and agency within the perception that Nottingham Forest will transfer ahead even stronger.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins has scored three objectives in his final two Premier League video games, as many as he had in his earlier 19.
Nevertheless, his final 5 league objectives have come away from dwelling, final scoring at Villa Park in September in opposition to Fulham.
Nottingham Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White
Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi are Forest’s high scorers within the Premier League this season with three objectives every.
Gibbs-White has underperformed his 4.5 anticipated objectives (xG) this season and has only a 7.5% conversion price, having had a team-high 40 pictures, with 11 of these on track.
MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN
Villa are unbeaten of their earlier six Premier League dwelling video games in opposition to Forest, successful the final 5 in a row. Their final defeat was in October 1994 underneath Ron Atkinson (0-2).
Nevertheless, Forest have received two of their final 4 league video games in opposition to Villa (L2), as many as they’d of their earlier 18 (D7 L9).
Villa beat Leicester Metropolis 2-1 of their first Premier League recreation of 2025. They haven’t received their opening league match in consecutive calendar years since 2008 and 2009.
In the meantime, Forest have received their opening league recreation in 5 of the final seven calendar years, together with a 3-0 win at Wolves in 2025. The exceptions on this run had been a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in 2023 and a 2-3 loss at Brentford in 2024.
No group have failed to attain in additional totally different Premier League video games this season than Forest (10), whereas solely Wolves (11) have scored fewer objectives than them (18).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Aston Villa – 67.5%
Draw – 17.9%
Nottingham Forest – 14.6%
