Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa: Team newspublished at 13:14 BST
13:14 BST
Image source, BBC Sport
Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira makes nine changes to the side which drew 1-1 in their Europa League quarter-final first leg at Porto on Thursday.
Morgan Gibbs-White and Murillo remain from the draw in Portugal while Elliot Anderson returns after missing the game through suspension.
Striker Chris Wood is on the bench having made his comeback after six months out in the week.
Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Anderson, Sangare, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Hutchinson, Igor Jesus
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Sutton's predictions: Nottingham Forest v Aston Villapublished at 10:14 BST
10:14 BST
Both of these teams played in Europe on Thursday night, but they will surely have at least half an eye on this game because it is so important at the top and bottom of the table.
At the top, Aston Villa are in the Champions League places and have a six-point cushion over sixth-placed Chelsea with seven games to go.
They beat West Ham United in their last game, after losing three in a row, and they would dearly love to hit a bit of form now.
Nottingham Forest got a massive win over relegation rivals Tottenham last time out, but they still have a lot of work to do to stay up.
It's a big boost that Chris Wood is back after six months out, but the 'Wood-chopper' will be rusty and it might be a while before he is back in the swing of things. I've chopped a lot of wood over the years and I know if your axe is left in the shed for a while, it loses its sharpness.
This is going to be an extremely tight game. A win would be huge for either team, but I'm going to say they will both have to settle for a single point.
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa: Key stats and talking pointspublished at 13:03 BST 11 April
13:03 BST 11 April
Jordan Butler BBC Sport journalist
Two potential Europa League winners meet in the top flight this weekend as Aston Villa make the short trip to face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. BBC Sport explores some of the key themes.
Both sides have been straddling European endeavours with domestic duties this season and both will likely suffer from fatigue having each played tricky ties on the continent on Thursday.
Forest finding form
Europe has provided a welcome distraction from the Premier League for Nottingham Forest for most of this campaign but, under Vitor Pereira, they seem to be finding form at the perfect time.
Forest sit three points above the relegation places with seven games remaining but they have taken four points from the past two league games, including a huge 3-0 victory at relegation rivals Spurs in their last outing.
A creditable draw in Porto on Thursday night with a much-changed side extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to four matches and Pereira seems to be striking the necessary balance between European progression and Premier League survival.
A total of 36 points has been enough to guarantee survival in each of the past nine Premier League seasons and if that trend continues in 2025-26, the Tricky Trees require only four more points from their seven remaining matches.
One thing Pereira is yet to address is Forest's poor home run – they are winless in seven league outings in front of their own fans (D4, L3) and they have failed to score in each of their past three matches at the City Ground. Their last home league win was in 2025, 119 days ago versus Spurs.
Villa's recent struggles at Forest
Aston Villa resume their league campaign against a side they have historically enjoyed the upper hand against in the Premier League era.
The Villans have lost only three of their 17 Premier League meetings with Forest (W9, D5), however, two of those defeats have come at the City Ground in recent seasons and they have not won a top-flight match there since January 1995.
Villa will draw confidence from their 3-1 victory at Bologna in midweek. It was their third win on the bounce in all competitions and the club's eighth in succession in the Europa League this season, with Unai Emery's side putting one foot firmly in the semi-finals - where they could potentially meet Forest again at the end of April.
Ollie Watkins has seemingly responded to his recent England snub by finding his shooting boots and he has now contributed four goals in four starts across all competitions. Incidentally, his two goals on Thursday in northern Italy were his eighth and ninth Villa goals in a major European competition, equalling the club record first set by Peter Withe and matched by John McGinn.
'A fraught week' awaitspublished at 14:24 BST 10 April
14:24 BST 10 April
Former Nottingham Forest midfielder Steve Hodge says the next week is "huge" and that he wouldn't discount Porto in in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at the City Ground.
Speaking on BBC Radio Nottingham's Shut Up and Show More Football podcast, Hodge said: "You get some strange results in the second legs of European ties at this stage in competitions because talented players have to go for it, managers are less coy and they give their flair players freedom to go and express themselves. I wouldn't discount Porto against us.
"The next week is huge. Aston Villa, Porto and then Burnley. If someone offered you two Premier League wins and getting through to the semi-final of the Europa League you'd obviously say 'yeah thank you very much' but Forest fans are not daft, they know it's going to be a fraught week.
"We're in good form, good fettle, we got a bit lucky in Porto but we'll take that."
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'No new injury' for Wood as Pereira prepares to face 'strong team' Villapublished at 13:33 BST 10 April
13:33 BST 10 April
Image source, Getty Images
Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira conducted his pre-match media duties for Sunday's visit of Aston Villa after Thursday's Europa League quarter-final first leg win over Porto.
Speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham, he said: "The moment of Aston Villa is not the same as Tottenham but, thinking about us, in our mind is to prepare, to compete, to get points because we need a good result. To have a good result is important, we need to be with fresh legs and fresh minds to face a strong team like Aston Villa.
"We need to face these games [Villa and the Porto second leg] in our best level, that's why it's important to balance the two competitions. Otherwise it would be impossible to move on."
On Villa, who also played in the Europa League quarters on Thursday; winning their first leg 3-1 away at Bologna, Pereira said: "If you are competing for the Champions League or struggling to keep a team in the Premier League it is a different challenge but it is not up to them, it is up to us. It is time to recover, time to unite the army with good spirit to play in our level against Aston Villa and try to win the game."
Speaking to the wider media, Pereira confirmed Chris Wood picked up no fresh issues after playing the first half against Porto in his first appearance for six months.
Pereira said: "Fantastic player, fantastic character. We will see next game. We try step-by-step to get the confidence and the shape.
Image source, BBC Sport
Image source, BBC Sport
