Key events
18 min: Villa win a corner after Williams challenges McGinn. The captain takes the set piece short to Cash, whose shot is blocked. It comes to Maatsen but his effort is wide.
16 min: Forest finally get an opportunity and it is a bit of a heart in the mouth moment but Martinez comes out and punches it clear.
14 min: Villa continue to dominate but they just cannot get a shot away, the tight and compact defence from Sean Dyche’s side is forcing them to play the wrong option. Back to the traitor debate and we have another vote for Carlos Tevez, the time from Francis:
Carlos Tevez. Man U fans sing his name and have signs in the crowd saying sign him up when his contract was due to expire. He then tells Fergie he’s moving to City on the morning of the Man U Barca Champions League Final. City sign him and put up the ‘Welcome to Manchester’ banner. Tevez then holds up a ‘RIP Fergie’ sign on a City trophy parade.
12 min: It is all Villa at the moment with Nottingham Forest having to defend for the last 10 minutes. It feels as thought their chances will be far and few between this afternoon. There are some calls for a Villa penalty with a clash in the box but nothing is given.
10 min: Villa are edging closer and closer to breaking the deadlock, this time finding Maatsen in the box but his resulting effort isn’t turned goalward. We have had another vote for traitor and it’s Justin Kavanagh who has emailed:
Carlos Tevez strikes me as the ultimate Premier-era traitor, because no matter who he played for (West Ham, Manchester United or City) he always seemed to have one eye on the wallet, another on the door, and one hand reaching for the golf clubs as he downed tools. Great player though.
8 min: Buendia creates a great chance but it is well blocked and the visitors avoid danger once again.
6 min: Villa eventually move it forward with Bakwa allowing a ball through to Cash but his subsequent cross has too much on it and the opportunity is gone. We have had another vote for the Premier League traitor, this one from Marlon:
Yes, Sol Campbell.
Of course, that opens up the debate of whether he owed anything to Spurs, having done the job he was paid for. Would they have continued to pay him if they didn’t want him anymore?
5 min: Villa are riding their momentum but are being forced to play a lot of football in their own half.
3 min:Sean Dyche is just constantly looking at his watch in the first few minutes of this game. Is it a smart watch? A Christmas present not yet working properly? Who knows but his eyes are now fully focused on the game and just in time as his side make a sloppy error at the back. Williams lays it off to Watkins but Victor makes a great save.
2 min: Villans are in full voice early doors as both teams find their feet in this encounter whilst bathed in sunshine.
Kick-off: Aston Villa 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Here we go.
Before kick-off we have another vote for the traitor, pre-Premier League but still a great shout. Gary Naylor has said:
Kevin Sheedy left Liverpool for Everton, hit a free kick top bins at Anfield and gave the V’s to The Kop and the Kemlyn Road Stand on his way back to the halfway line. You have to say that’s magnificent.
The players are out on the pitch at Villa Park, how will this Midlands derby play out? All to come.
Shaun Wilkinson has emailed about our traitors chat:
Hi Sarah, I’m not a fan of any of the clubs involved, but two traitors that spring immediately to mind are Alan Smith going from Leeds to Manchester United, just because of the clubs involved and Smith supposedly being a died in the wool Leeds fan. Secondly, Didi Hamann, twice – moving from Newcastle to Liverpool almost immediately after saying how happy he was in Newcastle, and then again when he agreed to sign for Bolton and then backed out to go to Manchester City.
Hamann is a great shout, Shaun. We will see if he gets any more votes to see who the readers vote for the ultimate Premier League traitor.
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has confirmed Callum Hudson-Odoi has picked up a knock which is why he is not involved today. He told Sky Sports:
We don’t think it’s too serious… this game has come around a bit quick with another in a few days.
We have already had a few bites for who is in line for Premier League traitor and both are for the same player. Erol Suleyman and Gareth Davis have emailed and said:
Shall we just put this one to bed early in two words? Sol. Campbell.
Sol Campbell, God bless his soul!
The reality TV show Traitors has returned in the UK and it got me thinking about footballing treachery. Is there a manager who got the boot but didn’t see it coming? Or a player who signed for a rival club? I’d like to know who you think is the ultimate Premier League traitor. Email me to let me know.
Who is leading the Premier League Golden Boot race? We have you covered, catch up here:
How times change. This time last year Nottingham Forest were third in the table, where Aston Villa are now. A lot of things have changed, including the manager twice and Sean Dyche is charged with keeping the club in the top-flight this season. Since being appointed on 21 October, Dyche has won 10 Premier League points and the side are just outside the relegation zone with 19 games of the season to go.
Have you kept up to date with all of the moves in the transfer window so far? No? Well we have all of them on one place for you:
Harvey Elliott has no future at Aston Villa, news that was confirmed by the manager Unai Emery in the build-up to this match. The boss said:
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.
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has said on his opponent today:
He’s [Unai Emery] done a great job as a manager there. Their recruitment has been good – spent a lot of money, to be fair, on some very good players and they’ve moulded it into a good unit, so certainly a tough game.
We’ve just shown lately, we’ve taken on some of the bigger teams, or the ones that are fancied every year, and done very well against them – and a couple of teams maybe not as fancied, we haven’t done as well against them. That’s probably the challenge of the group – rising to the expectation of each game rather than just big games.
The team news is in. Unai Emery has made four changes to his starting XI who lost 4-1 to Arsenal last time out.
Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins.
Bench: Bizot, Digne, Sancho, Garcia, Carroll, Bogarde, Hemmings, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba.
Nottingham Forest have made also four changes to their starting squad after a 2-0 loss to Everton.
Nott’m Forest: Victor, Williams, Murillo, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, I Jesus, Hutchinson, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Aina.
Bench: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this Premier League fixture between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest. Villa will be the favourites to win in this early kick-off as they are flying this season and are currently in third, while Nottingham Forest are 17th and just four points outside of the relegation zone.
Both clubs are coming into the game off of the back of a loss as Villa were defeated 4-1 by top-of-the-table Arsenal and Forest lost 2-0 to Everton.
It will be difficult for Sean Dyche’s side to come away with all three points with Villa having one of the best home forms in Europe at the moment and they also recorded a club record of 36 wins across all competitions this season. But maybe it’s new year, new story? We will find out very soon.
The team news will drop shortly before kick-off at 12.30pm GMT.
