Aston Villa face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
Villa secured a crucial win in midweek in the first leg of our Europa League quarter-final tie with Bologna, and coupled with our win over West Ham United prior to the international break, it’s hoped that we’re starting to build momentum at just the right time across both fronts.
This promises to be a difficult task at the City Ground though given Forest are fighting off the threat of relegation, and so we’ll have to produce another big performance to come away with a positive result.
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Youri Tielemans handed Emery a major boost in Italy on Thursday night as he was able to return to the starting line-up having previously returned from his injury setback, and there was good news from the Villa boss on Friday in his pre-match press conference as he confirmed that Alysson was available again after recovering from his own recent issue.
In turn, although we’re still missing the influence of Boubacar Kamara, we’re starting to move towards as close to a fully fit squad as possible, and so it’s hoped that there aren’t any fresh issues that rule anyone out.
As per the club’s post below, Emery makes two changes to the side that started in midweek, with Victor Lindelof and Ross Barkley coming in to replace Ezri Konsa and Emiliano Buendia.
While it’s strange seeing Konsa on the bench given he has been such a fixture of the Villa XI, we do need to rotate and keep everyone fresh, and Lindelof has certainly impressed when called upon.
As for Barkley, he’ll hopefully give us more control and help us dictate tempo and possession, and so Emery will hope that he has got his selections spot on to ensure that we return home from Nottingham with all three points.
How we start to face Forest this afternoon ✊ #NFOAVL pic.twitter.com/7L91z1ZXRE
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 12, 2026