Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest: Key stats and talking points

Four days after kick-starting their season by beating Club Brugge in the Champions League, Aston Villa host a Nottingham Forest side similarly in a period of adaptation and without a top-flight win this season. Villa spark? Villa's slow start to the current campaign has prompted comparisons with the previous one, when they didn't score until their fifth league game but then ground out a hard-earned European victory against limited opponents. That sparked a remarkable run of 17 wins in 19 matches. The difference this season is that, aside from the abysmal opening defeat by Brighton , Villa are at least showing an identity they lacked during the early malaise of 2025-26. Their defensive structure has been swiftly remedied by Unai Emery, while a gradual improvement in the team's attacking play was accelerated against Brugge on Tuesday. [BBC] Expensive summer signings Ibrahim Mbaye and Ballon d'Or Young Talent of the Year nominee Johan Manzambi are still to come into the side too – both could make their debuts on Saturday as Villa seek to avoid becoming the first team in English league history to go goalless in their opening four games in successive seasons. The Villans are on a run of six successive Premier League home wins against Forest and dismantled the visitors 4-0 to reach the Europa League final when the sides last met four months ago. However, six of Villa's starting XI that night, and nine of the 16 players used, are no longer at the club. Glasner the difference-maker? While Forest have not beaten Aston Villa away since 1994 and are winless after their opening three Premier League matches for the first time, Oliver Glasner might view this as the ideal fixture to bring his first victory in charge. Glasner is kryptonite to Villa and Emery, with the Austrian unbeaten in all seven meetings and with an aggregate scoreline of 19-4 in his favour – all while at Crystal Palace . That sequence includes two victories at Villa Park during a 41-match home spell in which the Birmingham side were otherwise unbeaten. Glasner has only ever enjoyed one longer unbeaten run against a manager, and he has never fared better versus a counterpart without ever losing. Similarly, it is the longest streak Emery has ever endured against another manager without winning. [BBC] The wing-back system that Glasner implemented at Palace and now Forest stretches Aston Villa's narrow set-up, while quick and willing runners on the counter-attack leave Emery's side vulnerable defensively. Forest are not fully firing yet under Glasner but the Austrian has expressed his satisfaction with the club's dealings in the summer transfer window as he configures the squad to his blueprint.