Unai Emery in a press conference and Oliver Glasner looking neutral

Unai Emery and Oliver GlasnerImago

Aston Villa player ratings vs Nottingham Forest: Alysson let down, 4/10 fails final chance

Correspondent AUTHORITY Sports journalist with experience at the Northern Echo and Durham Cricket Club; Teesside University graduate. FOCUS Long-form opinion and deep-dive content across the Breaking Media network. THE INSIGHT Jacob utilises a network of club and industry contacts to deliver verified, analytical reporting. He provides in-depth opinion and insight to ensure fans get beyond the headlines and into the detail.

Published on:

12 Sep 2026, 3:52 pm

Aston Villa fell to a poor 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Villa Park on Saturday.

Unai Emery made just one change from his side that beat Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Ross Barkley coming in for the suspended Joao Gomes.

The Villans had a huge chance to go ahead in the seventh minute when Victor Lindelof's effort was somehow kept out by Matz Sels, despite an xG rate of 0.49.

Oliver Glasner's side then hit the front seconds after the restart in the second 45, with Liam Delap thumping the visitors into the lead.

Alysson came off the bench to head home Villa's first goal of the league campaign, before a late, cruel blow.

Poor defensive work by Aston Villa led to a late Igor Jesus goal, as the B6 side's wait for things to change goes on.

Alysson made the difference for Aston Villa

Alysson replaced George Hemmings at the break, and showed the latter how to make an impact.

He scored his first goal for the Villans after getting his head on the end of a John McGinn cross to level the contest.

The 20-year-old only had 17 touches after his 45-minute appearance, but one touch in particular was enough for the Villans.

He made 12 sprints and two defensive contributions, and his energy was almost crucial to prevent another bad result, but he was let down.

George Hemmings got his final chance vs Forest

There was a lot of excitement surrounding Hemmings coming into this campaign after an impressive pre-season.

But the 19-year-old was a reason why the Villans didn't score in any of their first three Premier League games of the season, failing to have an impact against Forest.

The left-winger was hooked by Emery after 45 minutes, after he only managed to create one chance in the first half.

He completed just 50 per cent of his dribbles and made a low total of seven passes.

The Englishman won one of his three ground duels, while losing three of his four duels in the air at a success rate of 25 per cent.

Hemmings clearly has talent, but the Premier League is too big a beast for him right now.

Once Alejandro Garnacho and Ibrahim Mbaye are up to speed, he won't have a chance of getting back into the starting eleven. It could have been his last chance to impress.

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