Nottingham Forest FC vs Aston Villa FC, Europe 2025-26 SEMI FINALS
Overview
Match Preview
Nottingham Forest FC vs Aston Villa FC — Europe at City Ground, Nottingham.
- Nottingham Forest FC 8 games · 14 pts (2025/26)
- Aston Villa FC 8 games · 21 pts (2025/26)
Match Details
- Referee Joao Pedro Pinheiro
- Assistant 1 Bruno Jesus (Portugal)
- Assistant 2 Luciano Maia
20 games this season
🟨 1.4/game
⚽ 5.7 goals/game
🟥 1 total
Standings
| # | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olympique Lyonnais | 8 | 21 |
| 2 | Aston Villa FC | 8 | 21 |
| 3 | FC Midtjylland | 8 | 19 |
| 4 | Real Betis Balompie | 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 | Ferencvarosi TC | 8 | 15 |
| 13 | Nottingham Forest FC | 8 | 14 |
| 14 | FC Viktoria Plzen | 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 | Fenerbahce 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
Recent Form
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 12 Apr | Aston Villa FC | H | 1–1 | D |
| 09 Apr | FC Porto | A | 1–1 | D |
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 12 Apr | Nottingham Forest FC | A | 1–1 | D |
| 09 Apr | Bologna FC 1909 | A | 3–1 | W |
Season Stats
| Nottingham Forest FC | Aston Villa FC | |
|---|---|---|
| #13 | Position | #2 |
| 14 | Points | 21 |
| 8 | Played | 8 |
| 4 / 2 / 2 | W / D / L | 7 / 0 / 1 |
| 15 | Scored | 14 |
| 7 | Conceded | 6 |
| +8 | GD | +8 |
| 1.75 | PPG | 2.63 |
| 50% | Win % | 88% |
Key Stats
67%
Both Teams to Score
H2H (12 games)
H2H (12 games)
58%
Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
H2H history
44%
Clean Sheets
Nottingham Forest FC this season
Nottingham Forest FC this season
60%
Clean Sheets
Aston Villa FC this season
Aston Villa FC this season
Nottingham Forest FC are 13th (14 pts). Aston Villa FC are 2nd (21 pts).
Goal Timing (This Season)
Nottingham Forest FC
0-15
1/1
16-30
–/–
31-45
–/1
46-60
–/1
61-75
1/–
76+
–/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Aston Villa FC
0-15
–/–
16-30
2/–
31-45
5/–
46-60
3/–
61-75
–/1
76+
4/1
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Events
Match Events
- 0' It’s Showtime! The match between Nottingham Forest FC and Aston Villa FC is underway.
- 5' It looks surprising Nottingham Forest FC does not make any changes. Youri Tielemans has some obvious troubles when approaching to the goal.
- 10' Spectators are craving for more action. Both teams play very cautiously. They need to put some more energy.
- 15' Not even hints on scoring a goal over the last 15 minutes.
- 20' Although teams showed high tempo form the start, they seem to slow down a bit. Both sides really need to catch a fire. Otherwise, we have another goalless match.
- 25' While players are taking a pause, let’s have a look at their stats. The teams met 2 times this season with Aston Villa FC winning 50% of all matches.
- 30' Nottingham Forest FC started playing very sharply right from the kick off. However, it slowed down the tempo rapidly by 30.
- 35' It’s high time Vítor Pereira made some changes to put the his team’s game back to action.
- 40' 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.
- 45' Aston Villa FC looks like a favorite considering 1 games won in last 2 matches with its main striker John McGinn scoring 2 goals.
- 50' It looks like no one’s ball. Nottingham Forest FC is used to counterattacking playing. None of the sides are ready to take the lead.
- 55' Time for substitution for Aston Villa FC. Amadou Onana is replaced by Lamare Bogarde.
- 60' The travelling Aston Villa FC supporters hardly appreciate their team being pressed down to the backline.
- 65' Players seem to put ease on their energy level Spectators hardly appreciate such approach. Teams need to speed up the tempo.
- 70' Both teams are passing the ball around with high level of urgency. Aston Villa FC needs to do something about it to get closer to the goal.
- 71' Nottingham Forest FC is taking the lead after the goal scored by Chris Wood on 71.
- 75' Time for substitution for Nottingham Forest FC. Ola Aina is replaced by Zach Abbott.
- 78' Aston Villa FC receives a card for a hard tackle on 78.
- 78' Another substitution for Aston Villa FC to replace Lucas Digne by Douglas Luiz on 78 minute.
- 79' It is a substitution in Aston Villa FC team. John McGinn is replaced by Jadon Sancho on 79 minute.
- 84' Lamare Bogarde needs to be pretty careful with his discipline considering 0 Yellow cards this season.
- 89' We miss some good tackles and strikes. Is there anyone on the field to put the game back to action?
- 90' The Nottingham Forest FC manager makes a substitution. Igor Jesus departs to be replaced by Ryan Yates.
- Hope, you loved the show. Another epic battle is over with the score 1-0.
Lineups
Nottingham Forest FC Lineups
4-4-2Starting XI
- 11
- 10
- 27
-
34
Ola Aina ↓ Zach Abbott 75'
- 31
- 16
- 4
- 3
- 8
- 21
-
19
Igor Jesus ↓ Ryan Yates 90'
Bench
- 20
-
22
Ryan Yates ↑ 90'
- 26
- 29
- 24
-
44
Zach Abbott ↑ 75'
- 67
- 65
- 61
- 51
- 77
Coach
Vítor Pereira
Aston Villa FC Lineups
4-2-3-1Starting XI
- 23
- 27
-
12
Lucas Digne ↓ Douglas Luiz 78'
- 2
-
10
Emiliano Buendia ↓ Ian Maatsen 79'
- 11
- 4
-
7
John McGinn ↓ Jadon Sancho 79'
- 8
- 14
-
24
Amadou Onana ↓ Lamare Bogarde 55'
Bench
- 40
- 5
- 18
- 3
- 31
-
19
Jadon Sancho ↑ 79'
-
21
Douglas Luiz ↑ 78'
- 9
-
22
Ian Maatsen ↑ 79'
-
26
Lamare Bogarde ↑ 55'
- 64
- 16
Coach
Unai Emery
H2H
H2H Top Scorers
| Player | Goals |
|---|---|
| Tammy Abraham | 4 |
| John McGinn | 4 |
| Ollie Watkins | 3 |
| Douglas Luiz | 2 |
| Lewis Grabban | 2 |
| Orel Mangala | 1 |
| Emiliano Buendia | 1 |
| Joao Carvalho | 1 |
Head to Head
Nottingham Forest FC Form
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
2026-04-12
Nottingham Forest FC
1–1
Aston Villa FC
D
2026-04-09
FC Porto
1–1
Nottingham Forest FC
D
Aston Villa FC Form
Predictions
Prediction accuracy
4 / 4
1.29
Nottingham Forest FC xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
1.01
Aston Villa FC xG
I would bet for:
Under 2.5 goals 60%
Match Result
✓ CorrectActual: Nottingham Forest FC win
Both Teams to Score
✓ Correct
Avg goals/match: 2.3
Actual: No — clean sheet
Over / Under Goals
✓ O/U 2.5| Line | Over | Under | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ± 0.5 | 88% |
|
12% |
| ± 1.5 | 67% |
|
33% |
| ± 2.5 | 40% |
|
60% |
| ± 3.5 | 20% |
|
80% |
| ± 4.5 | 9% |
|
91% |
Double Chance
Nottingham Forest FC or Draw
74%
Draw or Aston Villa FC
55%
Nottingham Forest FC or Aston Villa FC
71%
Half-Time Result
✓ CorrectActual: Draw at HT
Correct Score
✓ In top 12
1 – 1
14%
0 – 0
12.3%
1 – 0
Actual
0 – 1
9%
2 – 1
8.1%
2 – 0
8.1%
1 – 2
6.3%
0 – 2
4.9%
2 – 2
4.2%
3 – 1
3.5%
3 – 0
3.4%
1 – 3
2.2%
Asian Handicap — Nottingham Forest FC
| Handicap | Nottingham Forest FC covers | Push | Aston Villa FC covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| -2.5 | 7% | — | 93% |
| -2 | 7% | 12% | 81% |
| -1.5 | 19% | — | 81% |
| -1 | 19% | 22% | 59% |
| -0.5 | 41% | — | 59% |
| +0.5 | 72% | — | 28% |
| +1 | 72% | 17% | 11% |
| +1.5 | 89% | — | 11% |
| +2 | 89% | 8% | 3% |
| +2.5 | 97% | — | 3% |
Clean Sheet
Nottingham Forest FC keeps clean sheet
37%
✗
Aston Villa FC keeps clean sheet
28%
✓
Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.