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Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest Preview: Odds, Tips & Prediction

Date: Saturday, January 3 Venue: Villa Park Kick-off: 12:30pm GMT A New Year always promises more excitement, and specifically, more entertaining football. Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest collide on Saturday, January 3, at Villa Park, but this fixture represents a matchup between two sides on different trajectories. Villa have catapulted themselves into title contention, and while they have been one of the Premier League’s surprise packages this term, jostling with Manchester City and Arsenal would have been beyond Unai Emery’s imagination. Forest, on the other hand, are hovering just above the relegation zone in 17th, but Sean Dyche has fuelled his men with more self-belief, and they could end up beating the drop. However, trips to face Villa have frequently ended in disappointment, and last season, Forest were beaten 2-1.

Charles Perrin

Sports Writer

Last updated: 2025-12-30

Fact checked by:

Chad Nagel

Sports & Betting Editor

5 minutes read

SportsBoom offers honest and impartial UK bookmaker reviews to help you make informed choices. While we may earn commissions through affiliate links, our content remains independent and free from promotional influence. For more information, see our Content Transparency and How We Review pages.

Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his team's first goal

Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa / Getty Images

Table of Contents

Anyway, SportsBoom has analysed the potential talking points and underlined its Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest preview with pre-match odds from the best betting sites for football.

Pre-Game Odds and Win Probability: Villa Overwhelming Favourites

Premier League betting sites carry a raft of odds, and this is the current state of play for the main matchwinner market:

Home: 4/5 (1.80) – 55.6%
Draw: 13/5 (3.60) – 27.8%
Away: 7/2 (4.50) – 22.2%
*Odds courtesy of BetUK, subject to change

Head-to-Head Record

Premier League head-to-head records can often serve to reaffirm widely held views on teams, and we’ve shown the tale of the tape between these two sides.

Last Five Meetings (Premier League)

05/04/25: Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest
14/12/24: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa
24/02/24: Aston Villa 4-2 Nottingham Forest
05/11/23: Nottingham Forest 2-0 Aston Villa
08/04/23: Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest

Aston Villa Current Form – WWWWW

Aston Villa keep defying expectations, and along with Manchester City, they are one of the Premier League’s in-form sides.

Although they have found themselves trailing in games in recent weeks, particularly against West Ham and Chelsea, they have shown their remarkable powers of recovery to turn those games on their head.

Emery’s side is cohesive, and there is a clear vision of what they want to achieve. A victory against Forest would only serve to confirm that they deserve to be mentioned in the title conversation.

Key Players to Watch

Morgan Rogers
An outstanding player, Morgan Rogers has arguably been the club’s best player this season. His penchant for scoring sublime goals, particularly from range, has marked him as a dangerman, and Forest can’t let him out of sight.
John McGinn
Although he’s only netted once in the league this term, John McGinn can often orchestrate things, and he breaks the lines well. Forest need to be wary.
Ollie Watkins
Lethal against Chelsea, where he chipped in with two well-taken goals, Ollie Watkins is always on the front foot and looking to make things happen. He could also state a further case to be included in England’s World Cup squad next summer.

Aston Villa News

Villa have no fresh injury concerns, as Tyrone Mings (hamstring), Ross Barkley (knee), and Pau Torres (calf) remain sidelined.

Nottingham Forest Current Form – WLWLL

Although they are currently five points above the relegation zone, Forest still have plenty of work to do over the coming months to ensure they stay on the right side of the dreaded dotted line.

Dyche’s side have been playing with a bit more freedom, although their recent progress was stunted by a 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City last weekend.

They have had no issues creating chances, but scoring has been more problematic, netting just 18 times. If they can be more clinical, they could give Villa something to think about.

Key Players to Watch

Morgan Gibbs-White
After coming close to joining Tottenham last summer before a dramatic U-turn, Morgan Gibbs-White has put his best foot forward this term, scoring three times, and he’s often key to Forest’s attacking transitions.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Direct and powerful, Callum Hudson-Odoi is Forest’s joint top-scorer in the league alongside Gibbs-White (three goals). He has pace to burn, and he will ask questions of Villa’s defence.
Murillo
A marauding centre-back, Murillo loves to drive forward, and he is gifted. His passing accuracy has been impressive (83%), and he has also contributed a goal. He could have a key role to play.

Nottingham Forest News

Nottingham Forest are still without Chris Wood (knee), who recently underwent surgery, and a couple of other players, including Ryan Yates, are carrying knocks, but they will be assessed ahead of the game.

Predicted Line-Ups

Aston Villa (4-4-2)
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, McGinn, Kamara, Tielemans, Buendia, Malen, Rogers
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1)
Victor; Savona, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Anderson, Dominguez, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus

Suggested Bets

Premier League sportsbooks are brimming with pre-match odds, and we’ve shared some football betting tips to consider ahead of kick-off:

Over 2.5 Goals: This match has been laden with goals, and the Over 2.5 line has been hit in each of the past three encounters, so this is worth tapping into. (3/4 with Bet442)
First Team to Score – Aston Villa: Although Villa have gone behind in three of their past five league outings, they could come firing out of the blocks and break the deadlock against Forest. (8/13 with Midnite)
Goals in Both Halves: This fixture could be quite open and end-to-end based on recent contests, so goals in both halves is worth exploring. (7/10 with Spreadex)

Value Bets

Anytime Scorer – Morgan Rogers: With seven league goals and counting, Rogers’ superb interventions have made him a difference maker. Don’t count against him finding the target! (19/10 with Leovegas)
Villa to Keep a Clean Sheet: Although they have only kept one clean sheet in their past three home clashes with Forest, Villa could be unbreached for the first time in the league since the end of November. (8/5 with Betfred)
Villa Total Corners Over 7.5: Villa will look to keep Forest penned in, and they could have some joy from corners. While they only managed four corners in last season’s corresponding fixture, Over 7.5 corners seems attainable. (7/4 with BetMGM)

Prediction: Aston Villa to Win

Although Forest have improved under Dyche’s stewardship, Villa are currently staying the course in the title race, and they have dazzled under Emery. They know how to mix things up, and aside from Rogers, they have plenty of other players who have stepped up to the mark over the past few months. It could be a challenging afternoon for Forest, and given Villa’s record against Forest at home in recent times, Villa could prevail.

Charles PerrinSports Writer

Charles Perrin has spent over six years writing about sports betting, working with some of the UK’s top sportsbooks, including bet365 and William Hill.