Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest Prediction: Will Spirit of ’82 carry Villa through?

Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest look to add to their illustrious European history as they clash in the second leg of the Europa League semi final (20:00 BST, TNT Sports 1). The 1981 European Cup winners host the 1979 and 1980 winners as these sides bid to reach their first continental final since Margaret Thatcher was in Number 10. The score is poised at 1-0 to the Tricky Trees after the first leg.

Read on for my Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest predictions, with the latest team news and match odds ahead of this all-England affair.

Team News

Villa are set to welcome captain John McGinn back into the fold. The all-action midfielder has had an injury-hit campaign, with a minor muscle complaint keeping him sidelined for Sunday’s defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Unai Emery shuffled his deck for that 2-1 reverse, but is expecting the majority of his first-choice men to be available here.

Only Amadou Onana (calf), Ross Barkely (ineligible) and Boubacar Kamara (knee) are expected to miss out.

Football Odds

Forest also fielded a much-changed eleven over the weekend, but the 3-1 victory at Chelsea might give Vitor Pereira some food for thought.

Taiwo Awoniyi bagged a brace at Stamford Bridge, but cannot feature here as he is not in the Tricky Trees’ Europa League squad. The evergreen Chris Wood is expected to step in, partnering sharpshooter Igor Jesus in attack.

Morgan Gibbs-White picked up a cut after colliding with Robert Sanchez against Chelsea. He is a doubt while Ola Aina, Ibrahim Sangare Murillo, Nicolo Savona, Callum Hudson-Odoi, John Victor and Willy Boly make up a hefty list of absentees.

Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest Odds

The hosts are priced at 8/11 for a home win while they are marketed at 11/10 to win the overall tie. Forest are 7/2 to win on the night, but a far more favourable 4/6 to reach the final. The draw is priced at 11/4.

Forest to win tie @ 4/6

This one really could go either way, but Betfred would replace me with an AI bot if I used that as my prediction. So I’m leaning towards those Tricky little Trees in this one.

Forest’s two defeats in the knockout phase both occurred at home, with Turkish giants Fenerbahce and Europa perennials Midtjylland both beating them at the City Ground. But each side saw their efforts undone by what Pereira’s men had achieved away from home.

Half the battle is won, with Chris Wood’s penalty in the first leg handing the two-time European Cup winners the advantage. Any jokes suggesting Wood is old enough to remember Clough’s boys going back-to-back will be ignored.

Forest have looked good value in the Premier League, beating Chelsea, Sunderland and Spurs away in their last five games. They have been free-scoring too, knocking three past the Blues, putting five in the Sunderland net and hitting the beleaguered Tottenham for three. Add in a 4-1 home win over Burnley and Pereira has every right to back his boys here. I’m backing them too.

Both teams to score @ 4/5

We have just established that the visitors have goals in them. I think Villa will register too on what could be a topsy-turvy night of European action. 

For a start, five of the Villans’ last eight games have featured both sides scoring. Four of Forest’s last eight have also seen goals for both teams.

Villa are also no stranger to high-scoring in this season’s Europa League. They beat Bologna 7-1 on aggregate in the quarters. They also closed their league stage account with a thrill-a-minute 3-2 victory over everyone’s second favourite team named after taurine-laced energy juice; Red Bull Salzburg.

I reckon that this game will have goals in it. Perhaps a cautious start is in order, but at 1-0 on aggregate a goal for either team will need to spark a reaction. Whoever is handling this one on Sky Sports News might have a nervous breakdown, such is the pendulous nature of this tie.

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