Unai Emery has selected his starting XI to take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground
Victor Lindelof of Aston Villa
Victor Lindelof of Aston Villa(Image: Getty Images)
View Image
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has named his starting XI to face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this afternoon.
He has made two changes from the side that beat Bologna in the Europa League on Thursday, as Victor Lindelof and Ross Barkley come into the team.
Emi Martinez starts in goal, behind a defence of Matty Cash, Lindelof, Pau Torres, and Lucas Digne.
Amadou Onana and Barkley will operate in a double pivot, while John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, and Morgan Rogers support striker Ollie Watkins.
Villa are looking to complete the league double over Forest for the first time since 2017- 18, and for the first time in the Premier League since 1992-93.
Forest are winless in seven home league games, failing to score in their last three; the Reds last went longer without a home league goal in February 2018 in the Championship, and have only once done so in the top-flight.
They earned a 1-1 draw in Porto on Thursday night, and could face Villa in the Europa League semi-finals should both teams progress past the quarter-final stage next week.
Villa starting XI: Martinez; Cash, Lindelof, Pau, Digne; Onana, Barkley; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Konsa, Buendia, Garcia, Abraham, Luiz, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey.
Nottingham Forest starting XI: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Sangare; Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Hutchinson; Igor Jesus.
Subs: Ortega; Morato, Wood, Ndoye, DomÃnguez, Yates, McAtee, Netz, Bakwa.
Content Image
Content Image
Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content.
Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
You can keep on top of the very latest updates when they occur with our free daily Aston Villa newsletter, giving you a round-up of the key stories in your email inbox.
If you want your favourite content straight to your phone, then sign up to get breaking updates and the biggest stories in and around the club on WhatsApp.
You can also get the latest Villa stories on your phone via the BirminghamLive app - which you can personalise - either on Apple or Android.
And our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret and Blue, available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can s ubscribe to the YouTube channel, or access the podcast on Spotify or via Apple.