Aston Villa will take on Nottingham Forest on Saturday in their first match of 2026.
Villa tasted defeat for the first time in 12 matches when they lost at Arsenal in the Premier League in their last match of 2025 but there is no cause for alarm in terms of their long-term targets for the season.
Manager Unai Emery is fully focused on the task ahead and it begins with the visit of Nottingham Forest to Villa Park on Saturday, the first of two league matches before the FA Cup third round opens up a third active battle front.
For the first time this season, England’s 2025/26 Europa League representatives – both former European Cup winners – meet in the Premier League.
Villa and Forest will play one another at least twice between now and the end of the season, with Emery’s men scheduled to visit the City Ground in April.
Their respective paths to the Europa League couldn’t have been more different. Villa moved into the European spots from the outside but were aggrieved to miss out on the Champions League, while Forest started strongly under Nuno Espírito Santo before fading, and turned a Conference League place into Europa League qualification because of Crystal Palace’s ownership and related issues.
2025/26 is playing out differently too.
Villa are flying but Forest, with their third manager of the season, are fretting about relegation. They’re four points clear of West Ham United in 17th and on a run of three consecutive losses but I think they’ve landed on the boss to steer them out of dodge.
Sean Dyche is no fool. He’s smart enough to drag the teams above Forest into trouble while keeping the Hammers below them, and he’s bound to have a plan in mind for Villa on Saturday too.
The injury problems are starting to creep in again for Villa, who lost Amadou Onana at half time in Tuesday’s loss at Arsenal. Emery confirmed on Friday that Onana is out for a number of weeks.
Onana joins the already injured trio of Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings and Ross Barkley in the treatment room. Torres and Mings could be back in a week or two, according to the manager, but there’s no stated timeline for Barkley’s return.
Villa are also without winger Evann Guessand, who’s in Morocco with the Ivory Coast squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, and new signing Alysson, who isn’t yet with the first team squad. Time will tell whether he’s a proper signing or a financial flip.
Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara are available after serving a suspension against Arsenal. Cash is expected to start against his former club.
The Arsenal game didn’t provide many positives but there were plenty of lessons to learn and even one or two hints towards Emery’s next move.
Villa’s goal was scored by Ollie Watkins but created entirely single-handedly by Donyell Malen, who came on as a substitute at the Emirates Stadium. Scoring goals is a pretty good game plan for this fixture and I can see Emery looking to get Cash to attack with width while tucking Malen in from the right to link with Watkins.
Cash and Kamara will come straight back in and the absence of Onana solves any selection issues in midfield.
In a home game Villa need to win, I think Emery could bring Ian Maatsen and John McGinn back into the starting eleven, with McGinn and Morgan Rogers shuffling over to accommodate Malen in the side.
Villa’s home game against Nottingham Forest will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.
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➡️ How to watch Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest: kick-off time, TV channels and streams
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