This Saturday’s Midlands derby between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest at Villa Park will see two teams looking to go back to winning ways.

Last Saturday, Unai Emery’s Villa defeated Fulham 2-1, earning a spot in the top four that they well deserve. Following a lull in form, they were back to their brilliant best against Fulham, with goals from Ollie Watkins, who is now pursuing Haalan Erlingd for the Premier League Golden Boot. Villa must balance their Europa Conference knockout stage matches with Premier League play in the near future, although they are the clear favorites to win the Conference League and will likely finish fourth. A great moment to be a Villa supporter.

Nottingham Forest, who are presently four points above the relegation zone, are also looking positive after defeating West Ham 2-0 at home last weekend to give themselves some breathing room above the bottom three. c Hudson-Odoi, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Anthony Elanga have all improved greatly since returning to full fitness. Awoniyi scored last weekend, and Hudson-Odoi has now scored in each of his previous three league games for Forest. Nuno Espirito Santo’s defensive options are greatly increased by the addition ofBoly, Aina,  and Sangare, who have returned from AFCON participation.

Significant defensive injuries have cropped up over the season, but Emery has managed to keep his Villa team in the running for the Champions League. Although Kamara and Konsa are the most recent casualties, Villa is managing to win, and their advantage comes from Watkins’ return to scoring and Leon Bailey’s return to form.

OUT: Jhon Duran (undisclosed), Ezri Konsa (knee), Emiliano Buendia (torn ACL – out for season), Boubacar Kamara (torn ACL – out for season), Diego Carlos (hamstring).

Seeing how Forest does now that they’re virtually back to full strength will be interesting. They will sit deep, absorb pressure, and try to strike Villa on the counter since their players are well-suited to the manner Nuno wants to play. If they execute the play well, taking the ball off Awoniyi and including Elanga and Hudson-Odoi, they will pose a serious threat to Villa.QUESTIONABLE: Ibrahim Sangare (international duty), Ola Aina (international duty), Willy Boly (international duty) OUT: Chris Wood (thigh), Gonzalo Montiel (thigh)

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