Credit: Imago

Cameron Smith

Sat 11 April 2026 7:10, UK

Aston Villa are back involved in Premier League action on Sunday, as they make the trip across the Midlands to face Nottingham Forest.

Unai Emery‘s side secured a big result in Europe on Thursday, with goals from Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins seeing Villa beat Bologna 3-1 away from home.

In the league, the Villans are locked in a battle for Champions League football, and are looking to bolster their chances as they get their first taste of Premier League football in three weeks.

Opponents Forest are fresh from continental action themselves, having played out a 1-1 draw away at Vitor Pereira’s former club Porto.

Involved in a battle for their top-flight future, the Garibaldi will provide a stern test for the B6 outfit.

Aston Villa backed for rare league double over Nottingham Forest

Villa make the relatively short trip from West to East Midlands, having lost just three of their 17 previous Premier League matches against Forest.

However, they go into the clash having failed to do the double over the Reds in the top flight since the 1992-93 campaign, in which the Villans finished second.

This time around, though, Opta’s supercomputer predicts that this wait will finally be over for the Second City outfit, with Emery’s side handed the title of favourites, carrying a 44.3 per cent chance of taking victory.

In the reverse fixture this season, a goal from Ollie Watkins and a double from John McGinn would earn all three points.

With Chelsea taking on Manchester City this weekend, the chance is there for the Villans to forge a gap over one of their direct rivals, and the supercomputer believes that this will be the case, with City handed a 41.2 per cent chance of beating the West London outfit – strengthening Champions League ambitions in the West Midlands in the process.

Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are not done with each other just yet

Should both clubs progress through their respective European quarter-finals, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are on a collision course with each other.

Having both lifted what is now the Champions League, the pair carry an illustrious history on the continent, and have the ability to call themselves two of the six English sides to win Europe’s premier competition.

Alongside this, both managers have serious skin in the game across Europe, with Villa boss Emery lifting the Europa League four times across spells with Sevilla and Villarreal.

Both clubs have had serious ups and downs in recent years, with Forest only promoted as recently as 2022.

In quite poetic fashion, the two English giants could be on course to meet in the semi-finals of a European competition – a tie steeping in glory given their previous achievements in continental football.

The Villans could be set to do a league double over the Garibaldi this weekend, but the sides may not be done with each other just yet.