Sunday , 16 August 2026

Aston Villa FC vs Nottingham Forest FC, Europe 2025-26 SEMI FINALS

UEFA Europa League · 2025-26
Aston Villa FC
4 – 0
Full Time
Nottingham Forest FC
Thu 7 May 2026 · 19:00 UTC Villa Park HT 45' · FT 45'
Ollie Watkins 36' 1–0
Emiliano Buendia pen 58' 2–0
John McGinn 77' 3–0
John McGinn 80' 4–0
Y 18' Morato
Y 45' Jair Paula

Overview

Match Preview

Aston Villa FC vs Nottingham Forest FC — Europe at Villa Park.

Match Details

  • Referee Glenn Nyberg
  • Assistant 1 Mahbod Beigi
  • Assistant 2 Andreas Soderqvist (Sweden)
17 games this season 🟨 1.6/game ⚽ 4.5 goals/game 🟥 2 total

Standings

# Team P Pts
1 Olympique Lyonnais 8 21
2 Aston Villa FC 8 21
3 FC Midtjylland 8 19
4 Real Betis Balompié 8 17
5 FC Porto 8 17
6 Sporting Clube de Braga 8 17
7 SC Freiburg 8 17
8 AS Roma 8 16
9 KRC Genk 8 16
10 Bologna FC 1909 8 15
11 VfB Stuttgart 8 15
12 Ferencvárosi TC 8 15
13 Nottingham Forest FC 8 14
14 FC Viktoria Plzeň 8 14
15 FK Crvena Zvezda 8 14
16 RC Celta de Vigo 8 13
17 PAOK Thessaloniki FC 8 12
18 Lille OSC 8 12
19 Fenerbahçe SK 8 12
20 Panathinaikos AO 8 12
21 Celtic FC 8 11
22 PFK Ludogorets 1945 Razgrad 8 10
23 GNK Dinamo Zagreb 8 10
24 SK Brann 8 9
25 BSC Young Boys 8 9
26 SK Sturm Graz 8 7
27 FCSB Bukarest 8 7
28 Go Ahead Eagles 8 7
29 Feyenoord Rotterdam 8 6
30 FC Basel 1893 8 6
31 FC Red Bull Salzburg 8 6
32 Rangers FC 8 4
33 OGC Nice 8 3
34 FC Utrecht 8 1
35 Malmo FF 8 1
36 Maccabi Tel Aviv FC 8 1

Head-to-Head

6
3
3
Aston Villa FC 12 games · Avg 3.6 goals Nottingham Forest FC
Last 5 meetings
2026-05-07 Aston Villa FC 4–0 Nottingham Forest FC 2026-04-30 Nottingham Forest FC 1–0 Aston Villa FC 2026-04-12 Nottingham Forest FC 1–1 Aston Villa FC 2026-01-03 Aston Villa FC 3–1 Nottingham Forest FC 2025-04-05 Aston Villa FC 2–1 Nottingham Forest FC

Recent Form

Aston Villa FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
07 May Nottingham Forest FC H 4–0 W
03 May Tottenham Hotspur FC H 1–2 L
30 Apr Nottingham Forest FC A 0–1 L
25 Apr Fulham FC A 0–1 L
19 Apr Sunderland AFC H 4–3 W
16 Apr Bologna FC 1909 H 4–0 W
Nottingham Forest FC
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
07 May Aston Villa FC A 0–4 L
04 May Chelsea FC A 3–1 W
30 Apr Aston Villa FC H 1–0 W
24 Apr Sunderland AFC A 5–0 W
19 Apr Burnley FC H 4–1 W
16 Apr FC Porto H 1–0 W

Season Stats

Aston Villa FC Nottingham Forest FC
#2 Position #13
21 Points 14
8 Played 8
7 / 0 / 1 W / D / L 4 / 2 / 2
14 Scored 15
6 Conceded 7
+8 GD +8
2.63 PPG 1.75
88% Win % 50%

Key Stats

67% Both Teams to Score
H2H (12 games)
58% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
60% Clean Sheets
Aston Villa FC this season
44% Clean Sheets
Nottingham Forest FC this season

Aston Villa FC are 2nd (21 pts). Nottingham Forest FC are 13th (14 pts).

Goal Timing (This Season)

Aston Villa FC
0-15
–/–
16-30
2/–
31-45
5/–
46-60
3/–
61-75
–/1
76+
4/1
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Nottingham Forest FC
0-15
1/1
16-30
–/–
31-45
–/1
46-60
–/1
61-75
1/–
76+
–/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Aston Villa FC
Ollie Watkins 5 G 2 A
John McGinn 5 G 1 A
Emiliano Buendia 4 G 5 A
Nottingham Forest FC
Igor Jesus 7 G 1 A
Morgan Gibbs-White 3 G 3 A

Events

Match Events

  • 0' Aston Villa FC have kicked off against Nottingham Forest FC. Both sides are eager to make an early statement.
  • 5' A moment of individual brilliance could settle this. Both teams are waiting for that decisive action.
  • 10' The referee has had an easy afternoon — neither side has been overly physical in the tackle.
  • 15' The teams are not in a rush to score plenty of goals. It might look strange considering Nottingham Forest FC that had 372 games and scored 433 goals.
  • 18' It’s gonna be a card for Morato.
  • 23' Players seem to put ease on their energy level Spectators hardly appreciate such approach. Teams need to speed up the tempo.
  • 28' Nottingham Forest FC is defending very well tonight not leaving a chance for their rivals to get through for a goal.
  • 33' The travelling Nottingham Forest FC supporters hardly appreciate their team being pressed down to the backline.
  • 36' with the perfectly-timed delivery and Ollie Watkins makes no mistake. 1-0!
  • 41' Aston Villa FC have won 497 goals from 355 games. They will be desperate to add to that tally today.
  • 45' That is a card for Nottingham Forest FC. Jair Paula will be fuming at that decision.
  • 50' Elliot Anderson has been relatively quiet despite scoring 5 goals in his last 339 appearances.
  • 55' The 21-year-old Jair Paula has been sensational this season — 1 goals and 0 assists is a remarkable return.
  • 58' Emiliano Buendia is having a superb {COMPETITION} campaign — that is 3 goals this season for the .
  • 63' The clock is ticking and both teams know a goal could change everything at this point.
  • 68' A tactical chess match is unfolding here. The question is which manager blinks first.
  • 73' Not even hints on scoring a goal over the last 73 minutes.
  • 77' Clinical. Composed. Brilliant. John McGinn makes it 3-0.
  • 80' What composure from John McGinn! The Scotland international strokes it home. 4-0.
  • 85' It is a cagey affair so far. Aston Villa FC in their 4-2-3-1 trying to find a way past Nottingham Forest FC's compact 4-4-1-1.
  • 90' We are waiting for someone to take the initiative. Who will be the first to commit to attack?
  • The referee brings this contest to a close. Aston Villa FC take all three points.

Lineups

Aston Villa FC Lineups

4-2-3-1

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Unai Emery

Nottingham Forest FC Lineups

4-4-1-1

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Vítor Pereira

H2H

H2H Top Scorers

PlayerGoals
John McGinn 4
Tammy Abraham 4
Ollie Watkins 3
Douglas Luiz 2
Lewis Grabban 2
Morgan Gibbs-White 1
Donyell Malen 1
Anwar El Ghazi 1

Head to Head

2026-05-07 Aston Villa FC 4–0 Nottingham Forest FC 2026-04-30 Nottingham Forest FC 1–0 Aston Villa FC 2026-04-12 Nottingham Forest FC 1–1 Aston Villa FC 2026-01-03 Aston Villa FC 3–1 Nottingham Forest FC 2025-04-05 Aston Villa FC 2–1 Nottingham Forest FC

Aston Villa FC Form

2026-05-07 Aston Villa FC 4–0 Nottingham Forest FC W 2026-05-03 Aston Villa FC 1–2 Tottenham Hotspur FC L 2026-04-30 Nottingham Forest FC 1–0 Aston Villa FC L 2026-04-25 Fulham FC 1–0 Aston Villa FC L 2026-04-19 Aston Villa FC 4–3 Sunderland AFC W 2026-04-16 Aston Villa FC 4–0 Bologna FC 1909 W

Nottingham Forest FC Form

2026-05-07 Aston Villa FC 4–0 Nottingham Forest FC L 2026-05-04 Chelsea FC 1–3 Nottingham Forest FC W 2026-04-30 Nottingham Forest FC 1–0 Aston Villa FC W 2026-04-24 Sunderland AFC 0–5 Nottingham Forest FC W 2026-04-19 Nottingham Forest FC 4–1 Burnley FC W 2026-04-16 Nottingham Forest FC 1–0 FC Porto W

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
2 / 4
1.87 Aston Villa FC xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
1.22 Nottingham Forest FC xG
I would bet for: Both teams to score 60% + Over 2.5 goals 59%

Match Result

✓ Correct
Aston Villa FC50% Draw25% Nottingham Forest FC25%
Actual: Aston Villa FC win

Both Teams to Score

✗ Wrong
Yes60% 0% No40%
Avg goals/match: 3.09
Actual: No — clean sheet

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 94%
6%
± 1.5 81%
19%
± 2.5 59%
41%
± 3.5 37%
63%
± 4.5 20%
80%

Double Chance

Aston Villa FC or Draw
75%
Draw or Nottingham Forest FC
50%
Aston Villa FC or Nottingham Forest FC
75%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
Aston Villa FC37% Draw43% Nottingham Forest FC20%
Actual: Aston Villa FC win at HT

Correct Score

✗ 4–0 not predicted
4 – 0
Actual
1 – 1
11.3%
2 – 1
9.3%
2 – 0
7.9%
1 – 0
7.8%
0 – 0
6.2%
1 – 2
6.1%
3 – 1
5.8%
2 – 2
5.7%
3 – 0
4.8%
0 – 1
4.8%
3 – 2
3.6%
0 – 2
3.4%

Asian Handicap — Aston Villa FC

Handicap Aston Villa FC covers Push Nottingham Forest FC covers
-2.5 14% — 86%
-2 14% 16% 70%
-1.5 30% — 70%
-1 30% 22% 49%
-0.5 51% — 49%
+0.5 76% — 24%
+1 76% 14% 10%
+1.5 90% — 10%
+2 90% 7% 3%
+2.5 97% — 3%

Clean Sheet

Aston Villa FC keeps clean sheet
30% ✗
Nottingham Forest FC keeps clean sheet
16% ✓

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.