Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa – News and Probable Lineups

On Thursday night, the City Ground will be the venue for the first leg of an all-English Europa League semi-final pitting Nottingham Forest against Aston Villa.

The victors of this thrilling two-legged contest between two former European Cup champions will face either Braga or Freiburg in the final at Besiktas Park in Istanbul on May 20.

Match overview

Nottingham Forest heads into their first major European semi-final since 1984 in buoyant spirits, having shocked everyone with a commanding 5-0 Premier League win against Sunderland last Friday. This triumph has extended their unbeaten streak across all competitions to eight matches (W5 D3).

Vitor Pereira has injected optimism at the City Ground, and the Tricky Trees boast a five-point cushion over the relegation zone, with four league fixtures remaining. Their upcoming clash against a struggling Chelsea side is scheduled for next Monday.

Now, Forest will turn their attention to the first all-Midlands encounter in UEFA history and the first all-English semi-final since Manchester United’s victory over Arsenal in the 2008-09 Champions League. The last all-English match in the Europa League was last season’s final, wherein Tottenham Hotspur triumphed 1-0 against Manchester United.

After finishing 13th in the League Phase, having secured four victories, drawn two, and lost two of their eight matches, Forest advanced to the Europa League semi-finals by overcoming Fenerbahce, Midtjylland, and Porto, with the latter dispatched 2-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals earlier this month.

The Tricky Trees—winners of the European Cup in 1979 and 1980 under Brian Clough—failed to defeat Aston Villa in both Premier League encounters earlier this season. Nonetheless, they can take reassurance from a four-match unbeaten streak at home against the Lions (W2 D2), with the most recent match ending in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground on April 12.

After having reached the Conference League semi-finals in 2024 and the Champions League quarter-finals last season, Europa League favorites Aston Villa aim to make it to their first European final since they defeated Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final under Tony Barton.

The Lions currently have an esteemed head coach in Unai Emery, who recently made history as the fastest manager to achieve 100 wins at the club (in just 181 matches). Moreover, he is the only manager to have won the Europa League four times, thrice with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

Emery has emphasized that winning the Europa League this season is “crucial” for his Aston Villa squad, who lead in the competition’s scoring charts with 24 goals, just one clear of Nottingham Forest (23), while they also rank joint-first for clean sheets (seven, tied with Braga).

Villa finished second in the League Phase among 36 teams, equal on points with leaders Lyon at 21 (W7 L1), and they sailed through the knockout stages, securing a convincing 7-1 aggregate win over Bologna in the quarter-finals.

However, the Midlands side comes into Thursday’s first leg looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Fulham in the Premier League last Saturday. That loss saw them drop to fifth place, though they could clinch Champions League qualification this weekend if they secure a victory against Tottenham and sixth-placed Brighton falter in their next match.

Team News

Nottingham Forest will be missing Callum Hudson-Odoi, Murillo (hamstring), John Victor, Nicolo Savona, Willy Boly (all knee injuries), and Luca Netz (ineligible), while Jair Cunha is a doubt after suffering a shoulder injury in the recent win against Sunderland.

Morato might be brought back into the lineup to pair with Nikola Milenkovic at centre-back, whereas Pereira may consider replacing goalkeeper Mats Sels with January signing Stefan Ortega, who has featured in Forest’s last three Europa League matches.

In-form Morgan Gibbs-White has netted five goals in his last three outings across all competitions and could persist on the left side of midfield if Pereira opts to retain Chris Wood and Igor Jesus as the forward duo; Jesus is the joint-top scorer in the Europa League currently with seven goals.

On the Aston Villa side, Boubacar Kamara (knee) and Alysson (unspecified injury) remain unavailable, while Amadou Onana will be evaluated before kickoff after missing the loss at Fulham due to a knee issue.

Lamare Bogarde is the likely candidate to partner Youri Tielemans in centre-midfield if Onana is unfit to start, although Ross Barkley and former Forest player Douglas Luiz are additional options at Emery’s disposal.

Ollie Watkins has scored three goals in his last two Europa League away fixtures and is anticipated to lead the line, supported by Morgan Rogers, John McGinn, and Emiliano Buendia in attack. In the defensive setup, left-back Ian Maatsen and centre-back Tyrone Mings could both be reinstated to the starting XI.

Nottingham Forest probable starting XI:

Ortega; Aina, Milenkovic, Love, Williams; Hutchinson, Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White; Wood, Jesus

Aston Villa probable starting XI:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; Bogarde, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins

Given the typically cautious approach seen in first-leg matches, along with the fact that only two matches have seen over 2.5 goals in Forest’s last nine home games, and Aston Villa having failed to score multiple goals in six of their previous seven away fixtures, a low-scoring match could be anticipated on Thursday.

Both sides will aim to secure a favorable result to carry a slight lead into next week’s second leg at Villa Park, but it appears likely that the points could once again be evenly shared for the second time this month.