Nicolas Jackson speaking in an Aston Villa interview and Unai Emery managing Aston Villa

Nicolas Jackson and Unai EmeryAston Villa Football Club

Three Aston Villa questions to emerge over past seven days include Nicolas Jackson and Alysson

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Published on:

14 Sep 2026, 9:00 am

It has been a mixed week for Unai Emery and Aston Villa.

On Tuesday, the Villans earned their first win of the season, a 3-2 victory at Club Brugge in the Champions League.

John McGinn, Emi Buendia, and new boy Nicolas Jackson were all on target in Belgium.

But their woes in the Premier League continued, as Nottingham Forest emerged 2-1 winners at Villa Park on Saturday.

Alysson cancelled out Liam Delap's opener, but Igor Jesus netted with two minutes to play to leave Villa with just one point from four Premier League games.

Villa have a busy week coming up, facing Coventry City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday before a trip to fellow strugglers Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Then it will be the international break, but before that here are three questions to emerge from the past seven days.

How big a concern is the lack of goals at Aston Villa?

Villa proved they can still carry a threat by scoring three times at Club Brugge in the Champions League.

But, domestically, it is still just one goal from four Premier League outings, a return that is looking a genuine concern.

This week, they face two teams who are struggling for goals as well in Coventry and Tottenham.

Emery will be desperate for his attackers to find their shooting boots and gain some momentum before the international break.

Jason Cundy calls Nicolas Jackson an 'absolute disgrace' after scenes in Aston Villa loss vs Nottingham Forest

Is there Nicolas Jackson hope at Aston Villa?

A lot of pressure has been put on Jackson to fill the void left by Ollie Watkins' lucrative move to Saudi Arabia.

Villa forked out a club-record £65million to sign the Senegal striker from Chelsea, and it was a relief to see him get off the mark in Europe.

However, he was booked shortly before half-time against Forest, and was then hooked at the interval by Emery.

There has been signs of promise in Jackson's early performances, but discipline was an issue at Chelsea and it is something he needs to address in his game.

This week promises a couple of big opportunities to get among the goals, and there is hope that can he settle into a routine in the coming games.

Has Alysson earned a chance to start for Aston Villa?

One positive to come from the Forest game was the sight of Alysson bagging his first Villa goal.

Still only 20, Alysson was earmarked as a player with big potential for the future when he joined from Gremio in January.

So far this season, all of his six appearances for the Villans have been off the substitutes' bench.

Given he got off the mark against Forest, is it time for the Brazilian attacker to be given an opportunity to start?

The Carabao Cup tie with Coventry feels like a good chance to do so, and if he performs well in that, then maybe he could play his way into the line-up against Tottenham, too.

Ollie Watkins