Aston Villa make the short trip across the Midlands to face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in the Premier League on Sunday (November 5).
Both sides were afforded a break in midweek after being eliminated from the Carabao Cup in the previous round. Last time out Villa beat Luton Town 3-1 at Villa Park with John McGinn and Moussa Diaby on target, whilst an own goal further increased their advantage.
The Reds meanwhile suffered a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool with Diogoto Jota and Darwin Nunez scoring in a four-minute salvo before Mohamed Salah made sure of the victory.
The Premier League standings have Villa in fifth and Forest in 16th with 12-points separating the two sides, and with the game being on Sunday afternoon it is possible that both sides could be overtaken before the action gets underway in the East Midlands.
The last meeting between the two sides was a 2-0 win for Villa back in April with Bertrand Traore and Ollie Watkins on the scoresheet. Forest haven't won a game against Villa since February 2017 when the two sides were in the Championship. Steve Bruce was in charge at the time and no player that featured that day is still at the club.
Ahead of the match, both Steve Cooper and Unai Emery have decisions to make regarding team selection. A whole host of players are ruled out with injuries whilst others are nursing some knocks, and will need to be further assesed to see if they’re fit enough to feature at the weekend. Flick through to see the respective team news of both Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, with some brief explanations for their absence and injuries.
1. Emi Buendia - out
Sidelined for the entirety of the season with a knee injury. Photo: Getty Images
![Unai Emery said on August 18: ‘Had surgery this week, and now is the moment to be with [his] family.
“Start slowly working a little bit. But, of course, it’s a long time to come back with us.’](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/09/27/11/GettyImages-1533370507.jpg?crop=3:2&width=800)
2. Emi Buendia - out
Unai Emery said on August 18: ‘Had surgery this week, and now is the moment to be with [his] family. “Start slowly working a little bit. But, of course, it’s a long time to come back with us.’ Photo: Barrington Coombs/Getty Images)
3. Callum Hudson-Odoi - out
He pulled his hamstring in the build-up to Forest’s game with Luton. He is now said to be facing a significant spell out, and will miss more than a month of action. Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
4. Callum Hudson-Odoi - out
Steve Cooper said on October 21: “Callum is out for six weeks. He’s pulled his hamstring.” Photo: Tom Dulat/Getty Images