Aston Villa are taking on their biggest challenge of the season, Nottingham Forest, in the Europa League second leg semi-final on Thursday.
Aston Villa are set to have their most decisive game of the season as they face off against Nottingham Forest on their home turf on Thursday. It is the must-win game for them should they aim to end their title drought besides targeting the Champions League return next season.
However, it will not be an easy task despite playing in front of their own fans. Unai Emery’s side is currently under pressure to bounce back and win here to end their winless run in the last three games in all competitions. Apart from their narrow loss in the first leg of the semifinal, they have been beaten by Fulham and Spurs in the Premier League.
On the contrary, the Tricky Trees are in their high-flying form. Vitor Pereira’s men have been unbeaten in the last ten games, plus a five-game winning streak in all competitions, including a big win over Sunderland on the road, a 3-1 victory against Chelsea in the last outing and two narrow wins versus Villa and Porto at home in the continental competition.
The big question remains for all Villa fans. Can they really bounce back and go through the final? It is definitely not easy to ask, but it is impossible to do. Perhaps such has never been experienced by the current team.
The closest moment they could almost get was perhaps in the Champions League quarter final back in the 2024/25 season. At that time, they had a two-goal deficit following their 3-1 loss to the eventual champion, PSG, in Paris. The Lions managed to pick up a 3-2 win in the reverse fixture, but it wasn’t enough to get them through the last four.
Yet, historically, they have done it five times, including one in the UEFA Super Cup 1983. At that time, Peter Withe and Co. dismantled Barcelona 3-0 after extra time at home after a 1-0 loss on the road.
The Clarets and Blue also have one more reason to believe they can accomplish the mission and eventually end their title drought. Apart from the experienced and Europa League specialist manager, Unai Emery, on the bench, the team also have John McGinn.
The 31-year-old midfielder has been part of the teams which end the long-awaited dream in his professional career. McGinn helped his St Mirren with their first title in 26 years back in 2013. He also was part of Hibernian when they won their first title after waiting for 114 years with their Scottish Cup title in 2016. The versatile midfielder also contributed to Scotland’s return to the FIFA World Cup final round this year after a 28-year absence.
McGinn himself is aware of the challenge and the fans’ hope for their long-awaited silverware. He shared his view with Sky Sports as reported below.
“I know what it means to people. I know what it means to supporters who have travelled for years and not experienced success. So, I understand the magnitude of the game. We all know what is at stake.”
Hopefully the Scotsman can bring the fortune as before. And Villa needs such things the most in this match.
Their defensive midfielder crisis still continues. Without Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, and the omission of Ross Barkley from the Europa League squad, Emery needs to come up with something unpredictable to stun Forest. The Spaniard boss should prepare a tactical tweak, if not different formations. Otherwise, their opposition might have already anticipated them.
They could still employ the 4-2-3-1 formation, but a possible tweak to 3-4-2-1 or 3-5-2 should be considerable. Yet, such would not work without the great form of each player.
Emiliano Martinez is still between the sticks; Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres would return to the lineup. Matty Cash and Lucas Digne can be pushed to the midfield as wingbacks. In the midfield, Youri Tielemans could be accompanied by Tyrone Mings, who will move back to lead the back three. His leadership and experience would be helpful to organise the more solid backline.
In the midfield, John McGinn might be the best option for a defensive midfielder at the moment with the double pivot role alongside Tielemans. Meanwhile, Douglas Luiz can be deployed as the number 10 to support Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins.
Such might be the suitable formation to break the low-block Forest, who tend to employ a 4-4-2 formation lately. Their squad crisis with 10 players on the sidelines due to injury, including Swiss international Dan Ndoye, Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi, fullback Ola Aina, and defender Murillo, might force Vitor Pereira to utilise the same system to keep their advantage at least.
The crucial clash of Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest will be available on TNT Sports 1 as well as live streaming. The fans can also enjoy this game on HBO Max.
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