Aston Villa vs Nottingham prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2024-02-23 15:00.
[p]A pair of former European champions with different aspirations meet as Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest after both sides followed up a Premier League defeat by winning their most recent game. Villa responded strongly to losing to Manchester United by beating Fulham by the same 2-1 scoreline, scoring in each half to maintain their place in the top four.[/p]
[p]With Champions League qualification this campaign still a target, Villa manager Unai Emery will want to turn Villa Park into a fortress again as that defeat to Man United was their third in a row here across all competitions, coming after a prior 17-match unbeaten home run in the league (W16, D1). On top of that, you have to go all the way back to 1994 for the last time they lost a H2H here, so a fourth straight defeat would prove to be a shock. [/p]
[p]Forest recently broke new ground by appointing ex-referee Mark Clattenburg as a performance analyst, but it was their performance on the pitch that made the headlines on Saturday as their 2-0 win over West Ham ensures they enter this matchday sat four points above the drop zone. A first clean sheet in 14 league fixtures pleased manager Nuno EspĂrito Santo, who warned that there is still a “lot of detail to improve” on the field while they await a hearing – and potential points deduction – into alleged financial fair play breaches.[/p]
[p]The Tricky Trees haven’t got enough details right on the road this term (W2, D3, L7), although surprisingly, both of those victories came against sides starting this round inside the top half. More worryingly however is the fact that they’ve lost all three prior road fixtures against teams in the top four, while conceding at least twice, with no PL away clean sheet since drawing 0-0 with Crystal Palace in October (W1, D2, L4). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Ollie Watkins’ brace against Fulham means that he’s scored four goals across Villa’s last four league fixtures, two of which came inside the opening 25 minutes. Callum Hudson-Odoi’s strike for Forest against West Ham means that for the first time in his career, he’s scored in three straight PL games, twice between the 40th minute and half-time.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Villa have scored exactly twice in five of the last six home H2Hs (W4, D2).[/p]