Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have named their starting teams for their Premier League meeting at the City Ground on Sunday.
The hosts are three points above the drop zone with a significant goal superiority following a 3-0 win at rivals Tottenham – who visit Sunderland on Sunday (14:00 BST) – in their last top-flight outing on March 22.
Villa are fourth and on course for Champions League qualification via their league position, starting two points above fifth-placed Liverpool with a match in hand.
101GreatGoals.com has the line-up news from Forest vs Villa in the 2025/26 Premier League, as well as details on how to watch.
Nottingham Forest confirmed starting team vs Villa
Forest make nine changes from their 1-1 draw at Porto in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final three days ago, Morgan Gibbs-White and Murillo retaining their places.
Forest’s Chris Wood scored 20 goals in last season’s Premier League and the New Zealand striker started at Porto after six months out with a knee injury.
Wood is on the bench this time and Elliot Anderson returns from suspension in midfield.
Goalkeeper John Victor and defenders Willy Boly and Nicolo Savona remain out with knee problems. Centre-back Jair Cunha has an ankle issue.
Nottingham Forest starting XI: Matz Sels, Neco Williams, Murillo, Ibrahim Sangare, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus, Omari Hutchinson, Nikola Milenkovic, Ola Aina
Forest substitutes: Stefan Ortega, Morato, Chris Wood, Cherif Ndoye, Nicolas Dominguez, Ryan Yates, James McAtee, Luca Netz, Dilane Bakwa
Aston Villa full line up vs Forest
Ross Barkley is a newcomer in Villa’s midfield in place of Emi Buendia. Ezri Konsa headed the opener in the 3-1 win at Bologna in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday but makes way for Victor Lindelof this time.
Winger Jadon Sancho (shoulder) and midfielder Boubacar Kamara (knee) are sidelined.
Influential midfielder Youri Tielemans made his first start since returning from an ankle injury at Bologna, providing assists from corners for Konsa and the second of Ollie Watkins’ goals.
Villa won four of the 11 games the Belgium international missed.
Aston Villa starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Ross Barkley, Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins
Villa substitutes: Marco Bizot, Ezri Konsa, Emiliano Buendia, Andres Garcia, Tammy Abraham, Douglas Luiz, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Leon Bailey
Where to watch Forest v Villa: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Sunday is at 14:00 BST (09:00 ET / 06:00 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
Sky Sports memberships include access to all 12 live Sky Sports channels and Sky Sports+, which offers live streams and a dedicated channel.
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa stats
- Forest could achieve three straight home league wins against Villa for the first time since a run between 1977 and 1979
- They are winless in seven home league games (D4 L3), failing to score in their last three and last going longer without a home league goal in February 2018 in the Championship (5 games)
- The only occasion on which they have waited longer for a home goal in the top flight was in April 1911 (4)
- Only Brentford’s Igor Thiago (1,608) has applied more high-intensity pressures in the Premier League this season than Anderson (1,527), with 74.1% of Anderson’s pressures during the campaign high-intensity
- Anderson has the second-highest high intensity rate of any player to record 1,500+ pressures in the division, behind only Brighton & Hove Albion’s Diego Gomez (77.3%)
- Villa could complete a league double over Forest for the first time since 2017/18 and for the first time in the Premier League since 1992/93
- They have lost three of their 17 Premier League games against Forest (W9 D5). Among sides they’ve faced at least 15 times in the competition, only against Coventry (16.7%) do they have a lower loss rate than against Forest (17.6%)
- The Villans have lost their last two away games in the Premier League, last losing more in a row between November and December 2024 (5), a run including a 2-1 defeat to Forest
- Of Villa’s 23 Premier League games in which John McGinn has started this season, 14 have been wins (61%), representing the highest ratio of any player to start at least 20 league games for the club this season
- When McGinn hasn’t started, their win rate drops to 25% (2/8) in 2025/26