Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa

Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa Preview

East meets west in the midlands in the Premier League on Saturday evening when fifth placed Nottingham Forest play host to sixth placed visitors Aston Villa at the City Ground with both teams level on 25 points apiece and both no doubt keen to break into the top four pack of the division with all three points here.

Nottingham Forest bounced back from a previous 3-0 defeat to Manchester City last weekend when the Tricky Trees inflicted a 3-2 defeat upon the other Manchester side, United, at Old Trafford, to keep themselves in touch with the Champions League spots in the table.

Despite recent losses at the hands of Newcastle United, Arsenal and the aforementioned Manchester City, Forest have enjoyed a successful and solid Premier League campaign under Portuguese manager Nuno Espírito Santo as the upcoming hosts have secured seven wins, four draws and lost just four of their 15 matches played to date.

Form and results at the City Ground have been the catalyst behind Nottingham Forest's resurgence under Santo as the hosts have picked up three wins from their last four home games which consists of important victories against Crystal Palace, West Ham and Ipswich Town respectively, while also scoring in six of their seven home games so far this term.

Aston Villa made it two wins on the trot in the Premier League last weekend when the west midlands side registered a 1-0 home win against Southampton which followed hot on the heels of a previous impressive 3-1 victory at home against Brentford, lifting Aston Villa up into contention for another possible Champions League spot.

However, prior to these recent back-to-back wins, Villa had experienced a period of uncertainty under manager Unai Emery as The Villans had failed to win any of their preceding five league matches in the English top flight which consisted of two draws but also three defeats as well.

Points picked up in draws with Bournemouth 1-1 and Crystal Palace 2-2 were overshadowed by losses at the hands of Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea, all of which were inflicted upon Aston Villa on their travels.

The bigger picture shows Aston Villa have produced far from convincing performances away from home in recent times in the Premier League as the visitors have managed to capture just four wins from their last 12 away games, suffering six defeats in the process.

However, the goals market appeals here as 10 out of Aston Villa's 15 matches played to date in the Premier League have resulted in both teams scoring.

Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa Verdict

Four of the last six meetings between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have resulted in both teams hitting the back of the net and this trend looks set to continue on Saturday evening.

Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS Yes @ 1.66

Other side bets worth considering:

Over 2.5 goals & BTTS Yes @ 2.10

Draw @ 3.40