Aston Villa

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

Crystal Palace have only earned one point from their past five league games but it is arguably visitors Aston Villa who will approach Wednesday's meeting with greater trepidation, despite being third in the table.

Palace's favourite opponents

If any fixture is going to help Crystal Palace rediscover their mojo, it's this one. Under Oliver Glasner, they have been Aston Villa's kryptonite – unbeaten in all six meetings, winning five and with an aggregate scoreline of 19-4 in their favour.

That run includes 5-0 and 4-1 home league wins and a rampant 3-0 victory in last season's FA Cup semi-final en route to lifting the trophy for the first time. Palace are also the only visiting team to win at Villa Park in the past 41 attempts, doing so twice – first in the EFL Cup in October 2024 and then by a 3-0 scoreline in the Premier League last August.

It is the Eagles' longest active streak without defeat against any top-flight opponent and just one shy of their historical best of seven games, achieved most recently against Brighton in 2023.

It is also the most matches in which Glasner – a potential candidate to succeed Ruben Amorim at Manchester United – has faced another manager without losing, while it is also the longest streak Unai Emery has ever endured against another manager without winning.

"How Villa play fits us perfect," Glasner said last season. The Austrian's wing-back system and pressing style has been a stylistic nightmare for Villa's typically narrow shape and patient build-up.

Emery, renowned for his tactical acumen, has so far been unable to find the answers. For last season's fixture at Selhurst Park, he switched to a 3-4-3 formation to match the Eagles but reverted to a back four at half time. Palace won 4-1.

Aston Villa may sense that this time could be different. Palace are winless in their past seven games and their lengthy list of absentees includes Ismaila Sarr, Villa's nemesis with eight career goals and three assists against them from just seven starts. Jean-Philippe Mateta, who has also haunted Aston Villa in recent years, has only scored once in his past seven appearances.

Resurgent Watkins

In contrast, Villa striker Ollie Watkins has rediscovered his form after what he admits, with some understatement, was "a slow start" to the season.

The 30-year-old's superb strike from outside the penalty area against Nottingham Forest on Saturday means he has scored in three successive Villa games for the first time in 21 months. His tally of six Premier League goals since the start of December is only matched by Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Leeds.

Watkins has been nursing a long-term knee issue but looks noticeably sharper of late as his confidence returns. He is shooting far more regularly – and accurately – too, and converting a much higher percentage of his chances.

The wheels have come off a bit at Crystal Palace, who have picked up only one point from their past five games.

Palace look stretched, even after the arrival of Brennan Johnson from Tottenham, and I have got massive sympathy for their manager Oliver Glasner.

Whatever the reasons, their results have dropped off. Maybe they will back Glasner more in the transfer market this month, but it certainly feels to me like they need some fresh legs.

Palace did a number on Aston Villa last season, knocking them out of both domestic cups as well as hammering them 4-1 at Selhurst Park, and they also beat them 3-0 at Villa Park in August.

I don't see Villa losing this time, however. The Eagles are flagging, while Unai Emery's side are playing with so much confidence.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Premier League game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park (kick-off 19:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Emery confirmed both Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres are "close" but he will decide after Tuesday's training session whether they will be available. However, Ross Barkley, Evann Guessand and Amadou Onana are all out of this match.

• The Villa boss revealed he called Vitor Lindelof's former team-mate Juan Mata before signing the defender and, on his performances so far, explained: "Everything he told me, now we are watching it. Fantastic guy, very professional and respectful."

• He continued: "He was being passionate and he was adapting to play on the right side, and when we needed him because we had those two injuries - Tyrone [Mings] and Pau [Torres] - he played in the level we expected. I am so happy how he's helping us and I told him, 'you set the level here, now you can't get under this level'."

• Asked whether he had any updates on the transfer window and the type of player they are targeting, he responded: "It is not the day to speak about it. No, and I can't because I don't have some news to tell you."

• He insisted the January window was not a distraction and they are "focused" and "alert" in it.

• Emery feels his own side are "in good form" but recognises the "difficulties" they will face from the "challenge" of facing Palace at Selhurst Park.

• On Villa's poor recent record against the Eagles, he added: "They're a team normally you need to adapt [to] because the tactics are strong. They have good players, good position, different, and we must adapt to them and compete."

Hear more from Emery on BBC Sounds

Follow all of Tuesday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Saturday saw a toe-to-toe battle between Aston Villa and Arsenal, even though they were playing 170 miles, and starting five hours, apart.

You could argue that Villa's was the most impressive win, they were in control against Nottingham Forest after Ollie Watkins' rocket to put them ahead on the stroke of half-time.

There were many similarities with the ties. Battling Bournemouth ensured Arsenal did not have it all their own way until Declan Rice scored twice from midfield.

After that it was never really in doubt. Villa also relied on their own marauding box-to-box midfielder, John McGinn, to score a couple to secure the points for Villa.

You can sometimes gauge teams by how many players the opposition would want in their line-up in place of who they have already.

Arsenal would not swap many with Villa. Would Mikel Arteta take McGinn to replace Rice? Probably not, though as a Scot it pains me to say so.

Morgan Rogers or Eberechi Eze would be a tough call, but there is one player that Arsenal would definitely prefer and that is Watkins instead of Viktor Gyokeres.

With six goals in his past seven games, Watkins is the one player Arsenal would not only want but also maybe fear a little if he keeps scoring as the season progresses.

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Hannah Gowen
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa will have financial restrictions again this January, limiting their ability to spend on both transfer fees and wages, but now is not the time to worry about tightened purse strings.

After all, Villa are joint second in the Premier League through 20 games, despite having one of the lowest net spends on transfers in the league since Unai Emery took charge.

The midfield three on Saturday against Nottingham Forest of John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara cost a total of £2.5m. These three players played a huge role, with two goals from McGinn, an incredible 50 final-third passes completed by Tielemans, and countless tackles and duels won by Kamara.

Of course, in the top flight, squad investment often equals better footballing results. But when comparing the hundreds of millions spent by the likes of Manchester City or Chelsea, it highlights just how shrewd Villa have been in their business, as well as the beauty of the free market.

As BBC Sport's Nick Mashiter wrote last week, Kamara is at the heart of Villa's success - and the same can be said for Tielemans. Even Morgan Rogers, now a starter for England, was snapped up for an initial fee of £8m - a measly sum when considering his quality.

The core of this Villa team is stacked with value-for-money players who have developed under Emery and provided a consistency that perhaps would not have been achieved with a haul of imports that cost multi-millions.

While there is no doubt Emery would love a bigger budget to play with, Villa should feel proud that they are competing with giants at the top of the league with a squad that revolves around bargain signings.

Find more from Hannah Gowen at UTV, external

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Young Aston Villa striker Rory Wilson is attracting European interest this month.

The forward, who turned 20 on Monday, is expected to go out on loan to continue his development.

Clubs in the EFL are also keen on taking the Scotland Under-21 striker but if a move does not happen, he will continue at Villa, where he has been training with Unai Emery's senior squad on a regular basis.

However, a loan is seen as the next step for a player who joined Villa at 16 in 2022 from Rangers for £350,000 and signed his first professional contract six months later. He is yet to make a senior appearance for the club.

After protracted contract talks, last April Villa made him one of the highest earners in the academy when he signed a new deal, fending off interest from clubs including Bayer Leverkusen.

Former president of football operations Monchi, who left in September, and head of football operations Damian Vidagany oversaw the contract talks.

Vidagany has also held a constant interest in his development while Roberto Olabe, who replaced Monchi, has been impressed and views Wilson as a late developer like Ollie Watkins.

That contract came after he scored 46 goals in 52 games for club and country in 2023-24 while he also scored Villa's first ever goal in the Uefa Youth League against Young Boys.

An ankle injury kept him out for the majority of last year but he returned in September and a hat-trick against Skenderbeu in the Uefa Youth League followed in November.

Now a two-time Scotland Under-21 international, Wilson has seven goals in 11 games this season.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Sam: Solid response to the Arsenal game. McGinn leading in attitude and performance and everyone to a man lifted their game. Great to see Rogers and Watkins linking up again. If they can keep finding one another in the run-in then we'll hopefully stay on Arsenal and Manchester City's tails all the way to May.

Mike: A true team performance with everyone fully contributing and exactly what we needed after the last game. Terrific goals from Watkins and McGinn and decent saves when needed from Martinez at the other end. I don't want to tempt fate but my gut feeling is that a top-four finish is looking a reasonable expectation.

Matt: Not losing the momentum we've created after the result against Arsenal was key to making sure our season didn't fade. Unai is too smart to allow that to happen. Huge three points.

Richard: Villa seem to have a knack of winning games in second gear. Hopefully we will change it up a gear occasionally and really thump the opposition. Forest were dire, particularly in the first half. Good to see Watkins score again. McGinn scored two great goals. Kamara and Tielemans controlled the midfield. All part of Emery's master plan. UTV.

Forest fans

Steve: Another poor display, mainly because of a loss of concentration, which is unacceptable and quickly punished in the Premier League. As for Dyche's comments - not sure which game he's been watching!

Sherman: We hit the self-destruct button again and were lucky that other results went our way. A win against West Ham is now non-negotiable. We desperately need a striker if we are to pull clear of trouble. It was great to see Aina back but my nerves are shredded.

Malcolm: I played amateur football for 40 years mostly at a decent level and I can assure you I didn't make basic mistakes like Forest are making.

Sean: Defeat was expected in all honesty considering Villa's home form. It doesn't make it any less disappointing. John Victor summed up Forest lately in that moment of madness for the third, but hopefully his injury is not too bad. We are clearly missing Sangare on international duty, and next game is absolutely crucial.

Egypt winger Omar Marmoush, 26, is attracting interest from Aston Villa and Tottenham but wants to stay and fight for his place at Manchester City. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Pundits Alan Shearer and Jermain Defo join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Brighton 2-0 Burnley

• Wolves 3-0 West Ham

• Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Ollie Watkins was being written off by some earlier in the season.

The striker was left out of Thomas Tuchel's last England squad in November, having previously been forced to withdraw from the October squad with injury.

His form in the first half of the season had seen, justifiable, questions asked over whether he would make the plane for the summer's World Cup.

One goal in his first 19 games was not good enough from someone who has always hit double figures since joining from Brentford in 2020.

But with six goals in his last eight games, including one against Nottingham Forest on his 250th Villa appearance, the 30-year-old is fighting back.

His link up with Morgan Rogers was also evident again, Rogers teeing Watkins up for his first-half opener, with the pair combining for 10 Premier League goals since the start of last season, two more than any other duo.

With Evann Guessand on duty with Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations and the goals slowly drying up for Donyell Malen, Villa needed Watkins to find his form again.

It has returned in style, with doubles against Brighton and Chelsea helping to shoot Villa up to their lofty position in the table.

Unai Emery spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Aston Villa's victory against Nottingham Forest: "So good, three points. We needed rest and work to get ready for this match. The players responded fantastically to the demands we set. We needed to score one goal when we had chances to do so. The key was that we didn't concede a clear transition. We dominated with the possession, the positioning and we did it with our mentality to keep our momentum.

On John McGinn's goals: "We need goals from the players, the strikers, the midfielders, everybody. I try to set ambitions individually. They have their targets and John McGinn needs to score goals like he did today.

On winning 11 consecutive matches at Villa Park: "It's very important to have our supporters and how we are feeling today. Each match is a new challenge and how we are competing is the key. We are focusing on each match. Very important to get back to winning ways."

Goalscorer McGinn spoke to Sky Sports: "It was important. It was a poor result the other night. We wanted to show a reaction, maybe the start of another 11-game winning run we don't know.

On his goal celebration: "A wee joke in the dressing room. I don't know how much I can say about it. There is a reason behind it and it was hinting at the manager talking about us going step by step so it was a wee nod towards that. The manager wanted me to be more intense and get in the box and thankfully I did that."

"I just take each day as it comes and hope we get the three points."

Did you know?

John McGinn scored a Premier League brace for the very first time; in fact, it was just his second brace in 311 appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa, with the other also coming against Nottingham Forest (March 2019 in the Championship).

Listen to Emery and McGinn's interviews with BBC radio WM here

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara return for Aston Villa as Unai Emery makes four changes from the defeat at Arsenal.

Captain John McGinn comes back to start with Ian Maatsen also recalled.

Lucas Digne, Jadon Sancho and Lamare Bogarde drop to the bench with Amadou Onana out injured.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.

Subs: Bizot, Carroll, Garcia, Digne, Malen, Hemmings, Bogarde, Jimoh-Aloba, Sancho.

Ola Aina returns to the Nottingham Forest team for the first time since August.

The full-back has recovered from a hamstring injury while Dilane Bakwa also starts as Sean Dyche makes two changes.

Forest, 17th in the Premier League, are aiming to avoid a fourth straight defeat after their mid-week loss to Everton.

Nottingham Forest XI: John, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Bakwa, Hutchinson, I Jesus.

Subs: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Douglas Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest (12:30)

• Brighton v Burnley - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Wolves v West Ham - BBC Radio 5 Live

• Bournemouth v Arsenal (17:30) - BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Brighton v Burnley" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Bournemouth v Arsenal", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Noel Sliney
BBC Sport senior journalist

Aston Villa have the opportunity to go second in the table on Saturday (12:30 GMT) when they host a Nottingham Forest side who are winless in their six most recent Premier League away games in this fixture, losing the last five, since a 2-0 victory in October 1994.

Vanquished Villa seek home comforts

All good things must come to an end but Aston Villa's staff, players and supporters could afford to be phlegmatic about the defeat at Arsenal which ended a club record-equalling 11-match winning run in all competitions.

Villa now trail the league leaders by six points after a chastening second half on Tuesday night but, perhaps more pertinently with Champions League qualification in mind, their first defeat in nine league games was mitigated by results elsewhere.

All four teams immediately below Villa in the table failed to win at home in midweek, ensuring Unai Emery's side have a nine-point cushion over fifth-placed Chelsea.

The Villans ended 2025 with a club record 36 wins in a calendar year in all competitions, with 22 of those coming from their 27 fixtures at Villa Park. No side in Europe's top five leagues has a better home record since the start of last year.

Villa have only lost to Crystal Palace, twice, in 40 home games since September 2024 and they're targeting an 11th successive home win for the first time in 36 years.

Key first-team players Boubacar Kamara and Matty Cash return after serving one-match bans, while Brazilian 19-year-old right winger Alysson has signed for an initial £8.7m from Gremio.

Forest in need of "killer moments"

A year ago, Nottingham Forest were where Aston Villa are now – third in the table, six points off the top. They began 2025 with a sixth successive league victory but, 12 months on, sit fourth bottom after a run of three straight defeats.

It was a defeat at Villa Park in April which began Forest's slide from third place with eight games remaining last season to an eventual finish of seventh.

Sean Dyche is the club's third head coach since then and unease around the club was heightened by Tuesday's insipid home defeat against Everton. Forest had 70% possession and attempted 52 crosses – their highest figures in a Premier League game since promotion in 2022 – but Dyche lamented his side's inability to engineer "a killer moment".

Goalscoring has been an issue for them all season. Only winless Wolves have fewer goals and a worse shot conversion rate, while no team has failed to score in more Premier League games this season than Nottingham Forest.

Where Dyche has seen hope is in his side's performances against high-profile opposition, saying: "We have risen to the big games." He's right – they've beaten Liverpool and Tottenham, drawn against Manchester United and were unlucky in defeat against Manchester City last weekend.

Nottingham Forest did not have a very good Christmas, losing three games in a row.

Sean Dyche's side had plenty of possession against Everton on Tuesday but did not create many chances and were picked off. That was a bit of a surprise, because of the Toffees' lack of firepower.

Forest are lucky West Ham have been so bad, because that is the only reason they still have a bit of breathing space above the bottom three.

They travel to play the Hammers on Tuesday, so they may prioritise that game and rest players here - it is that time of year where every squad is stretched.

This game is all about how Aston Villa respond to their defeat at Arsenal, however, because they suffered a bit of a thumping.

I don't think this is an easy game for them, but I am expecting them to bounce back and win a tight game.

AI goes for a 2-1 scoreline most of the time and I won't be doing that for every game, but I do think that's how this one will end up.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Aadam Patel
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Sport understands that Charlotte FC, the MLS side managed by Dean Smith, are interested in Liverpool's Harvey Elliott but the 22-year-old isn't overly keen on moving to America.

Given the injury problems at Anfield, it is not impossible that Elliott, who is on loan at Aston Villa, ends the window as a Liverpool player but the stance on Merseyside is that this is very much Villa's problem to solve.

There is no recall clause in the current deal and Liverpool are only expected to engage if an approach was initiated by Villa for Elliott to return to Anfield. If that was the case, Villa would be expected to pay a fee to terminate the loan and potentially contribute to Elliott's wages.

When Elliott made the loan move in the summer, Liverpool budgeted accordingly with the understanding that a £35m move would become permanent in the summer of 2026. The deal stated that once Elliott made 10 appearances for Villa, there would be an obligation to make the transfer permanent.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was asked recently if the club had explored the possibility of bringing Elliott back and he said: "No, Harvey is an Aston Villa player and he's supposed to be going there for a season."

Despite only making five appearances and not playing since October, Elliott has conducted himself well at Villa, but Emery has made it clear that he sees no future for the Englishman in Birmingham, so a solution is expected before the end of the window.

Read more on Elliott's uncertain future

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park (12:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Emery confirmed Tyrone Mings, Pau Torres, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley, Harvey Elliott, Evann Guessand and new signing Alysson are all unavailable for the visit of Forest.

• On timelines for returns, he added: "When they are expected to come back with the team, I don't know. Onana got injured on Tuesday; Pau got injured one month ago. Pau may be out for one or two weeks, and Mings as well. Onana, more."

• Emery said Villa decided "two months ago" not to permanently sign on-loan Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott: "I am respecting him all we can because he's a very good professional, very respectful. The problem we have with Harvey is this year he is on loan and if he is playing matches, we must buy him. We decided two months ago we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we need."

• More on Elliott: "This is the issue. But he is training every day, very good with us to help us in training. Of course, it is not good for him or good for us, but it is football and sometimes we must take decisions that are not good for us. After it, if he is leaving, we can maybe try to use the position he is [in] to let us work something [in the market]. Until now, we only signed Alysson because we believe in his potential."

• On 19-year-old Brazilian winger Alysson, who has joined from Gremio: "As a winger, he has good dribbling [skills]. He plays usually on the right side and physically and defensively does good work. He can defend, he can attack and he is intense. He is young so the adapting first is in training and then progressing hopefully in the Premier League with the demands we have."

• On managing his squad during a busy period: "[Because of] this demand, of course it increases the risk for injured players. We must be ready with the players we have. Now we have some injured players - some are close to coming back but still a lot of players are not available for tomorrow. But, we still have enough players to compete."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news