Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa Stats: Goals, fouls and head-to-head record

The last of Saturday’s five Premier League matches is an all-Midlands battle between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa (17:30, Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League).

Both sides are in the top six in the standings with 25 points from 15 games, with Forest just ahead at the moment by virtue of a goal difference that is one better than Villa's. Below you can find the Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa Stats as we delve into the facts and figures.

Football Odds

Form Guide

Nottingham Forest have three wins and three losses in their last six Premier League games and one team has scored three goals in five of them. 

They have beaten West Ham 3-0 and Manchester United 3-2, but also lost 3-1 to Newcastle and 3-0 to both Arsenal and Manchester City. Their only recent match with fewer than three goals scored was a 1-0 home win over Ipswich.

Aston Villa have broken out of a slump by winning their last two Premier League matches after enduring a five-game winless run in the competition.

They lost to Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea and drew with Bournemouth and Crystal Palace before getting back on track with home wins over Brentford (3-1) and Southampton (1-0).

Forest have won three of their last four home league games without conceding, while Villa have suffered three successive away league losses, although they won on the road at RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday to extend their winning run to three games.

Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Head-to-head

Saturday’s clash will be the 133rd meeting between these teams since they first met in an FA Cup tie in 1880.

Aston Villa have had the better of their encounters with 62 wins to 39 for Forest, with 31 draws. In league matches only, Villa lead 55-33 with 30 draws, while in Premier League matches it is 7-2 to Villa with five draws.

Forest have won only one of the last eight matches between the teams, although that was the league meeting at the City Ground last season, when they won 2-0 with goals by Ola Aina and Orel Mangana.

That match was in November, but Villa had their revenge at Villa Park in February, winning 4-2 with two Douglas Luiz goals and further strikes by Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey. Moussa Niakhate and Morgan Gibbs-White were the Forest scorers.

Goals

Nottingham Forest are the lowest scorers of the top 11 teams in the Premier League with just 19 goals scored in 15 games. They have notched in six of their seven home league games, though, failing to find the net only against Fulham in September.

Both teams have scored in three of their seven Premier League games at the City Ground.

Villa have scored 23 goals in their 15 league games. They breached the defences of the first five teams they faced on the road in the top flight this season, but have been shut out by Liverpool and Chelsea in their last two league away days.

There were six goals in the last league meeting between these teams but the previous three encounters had each produced exactly two goals.

Forest's Chris Wood is fourth in the Premier League top scorer list with 10 goals, while Villa's Ollie Watkins is joint-eighth with seven.

Cards

Forest players have been issued two red cards this season, while Jaden Philogene is the only Villa man to take an early bath.

Both teams have picked up 35 yellow cards this season, placing them in the middle of the pack in the Premier League

Last season's league meetings between the teams were both well-mannered, with only two cautions issued in Nottingham and three in the match in Birmingham.

Referee Sam Barrott will be officiating Saturday’s clash and he has not been slow to deal out cards this season. He has shown 53 yellows in nine league matches this season, giving him an average of 58.88 booking points. He has not officiated a game with fewer than four yellow cards this season, so backing 40-55 booking points in the game at 13/8 could be an interesting play.

Fouls

Aston Villa have committed 184 fouls this season (12.3 per game) compared to 167 for Forest (11.1).

Ryan Yates leads the Forest foul chart with 28 while Villa's most penalised player is Youri Tielemans with 20 fouls.

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