English Premier League

FT Saturday, January 3, 2026
Nottingham Forest WWLLL 1
–
Aston Villa WWWWL 3
1st2ndT
NFO011
AVL123
Villa Park · 43,039 att. · USA Net

Match Report

Getty

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest to return to winning ways

Ollie Watkins celebrated his 250th appearance for Aston Villa with a goal in a 3-1 win against a wretched Nottingham Forest who are slipping into deep relegation trouble.

Full story at ESPN →

Team Stats

20
Fouls
10
2
Yellow Cards
1
0
Red Cards
0
4
Offsides
1
4
Corner Kicks
4
1
Saves
4
27.3
Possession
72.7
10
SHOTS
11
5
ON GOAL
4
0.5
On Target %
0.4
0
Penalty Goals
0
0
Penalty Kicks Taken
0
170
Accurate Passes
579
239
Passes
645
0.7
Pass Completion %
0.9
0
Accurate Crosses
2
9
Crosses
16
0.0
Cross %
0.1
48
Long Balls
30
20
Accurate Long Balls
16
0.4
Long Balls %
0.5
2
Blocked Shots
4
8
Effective Tackles
9
19
Tackles
18
0.4
Tackle %
0.5
14
Interceptions
11
28
Effective Clearances
12
28
Clearances
12

Highlights

00:54 How Aston Villa bounced back with win vs. Nottingham Forest Watch on ESPN

Head to Head

AVL leads series 3-2

Lineups

AVL · 4-2-3-1

  1. 23Emiliano MartínezG
  2. 3Victor LindelöfCD-L
  3. 4Ezri KonsaCD-R
  4. 22Ian MaatsenLB
  5. 2Matty CashRB
  6. 27Morgan RogersAM
  7. 8Youri TielemansLM
  8. 44Boubacar KamaraRM
  9. 11Ollie WatkinsF
  10. 10Emiliano BuendíaAM-L
  11. 7John McGinnAM-R

NFO · 4-5-1

  1. 13John VictorG
  2. 5MurilloCD-L
  3. 31Nikola MilenkovicCD-R
  4. 3Neco WilliamsLB
  5. 34Ola AinaRB
  6. 16Nicolás DomínguezCM-L
  7. 10Morgan Gibbs-WhiteCM-R
  8. 8Elliot AndersonAM
  9. 29Dilane BakwaLM
  10. 21Omari HutchinsonRM
  11. 19Igor JesusF

Timeline

  1. 45'+1' Goal! Aston Villa 1, Nottingham Forest 0. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Morgan Rogers.
  2. 49' Goal! Aston Villa 2, Nottingham Forest 0. John McGinn (Aston Villa) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Matty Cash with a cross.
  3. 61' Goal! Aston Villa 2, Nottingham Forest 1. Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Dilane Bakwa with a through ball.
  4. 65' Dilane Bakwa (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
  5. 69' Substitution, Aston Villa. Lucas Digne replaces Ian Maatsen.
  6. 69' Substitution, Aston Villa. Jadon Sancho replaces Emiliano Buendía.
  7. 69' Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Nicolò Savona replaces Ola Aina.
  8. 69' Substitution, Nottingham Forest. James McAtee replaces Dilane Bakwa.
  9. 73' Goal! Aston Villa 3, Nottingham Forest 1. John McGinn (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Youri Tielemans following a fast break.
  10. 78' Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Matz Sels replaces John Victor because of an injury.
  11. 83' Substitution, Aston Villa. Donyell Malen replaces Ollie Watkins.
  12. 83' Substitution, Aston Villa. Lamare Bogarde replaces John McGinn.
  13. 83' Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Douglas Luiz replaces Nicolás Domínguez.
  14. 83' Substitution, Nottingham Forest. Arnaud Kalimuendo replaces Igor Jesus.
  15. 89' James McAtee (Nottingham Forest) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
  16. 90' Substitution, Aston Villa. Andrés García replaces Matty Cash.
  17. 90'+4' Lamare Bogarde (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Premier League News

All news
Video Do Man United need to make a decision on Carrick's future? Do Man United need to make a decision on Carrick's future? News Rob Dawson Sources: United consider Howe, Nagelsmann to replace under-fire Carrick Manchester United are weighing up replacements with Michael Carrick's future as head coach in serious doubt, sources told ESPN. Video Carrick woes deepen as Bournemouth smash United The pressure on Michael Carrick continues to grow as Manchester United fall to a dispiriting 3-0 loss to Bournemouth at Old Trafford. ESPN PA Sunderland stay bottom of PL table after goalless draw with Leeds Sunderland and Leeds were forced to share the spoils in a goalless stalemate at the Stadium of Light.