Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest: Ola Aina eyes first win — Preview, team news, tips & H2H

Super Eagles defender Ola Aina is expected to start when Nottingham Forest travel to Aston Villa on Saturday in the Premier League, with both sides still searching for their first league win of the 2026-27 season, Afrik Foot reports.

Aina, who has 48 caps for Nigeria and was named in the AFCON 2023 Team of the Tournament, has been a regular in Oliver Glasner’s first-choice defence since the Austrian took charge this summer.

The trip to Villa Park is an opportunity for the 29-year-old and his teammates to collect points from a home side that has not scored a single Premier League goal this season.

Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest match preview

Aston Villa sit 17th in the Premier League with one point from three matches, having drawn 0-0 at Hull City, lost 0-1 at home to Arsenal and been beaten 0-4 away at Brighton in a grim opening to Unai Emery’s fourth full season in charge.

That run of three goalless league games was broken in midweek, when Villa beat Club Brugge 3-2 away in the Champions League with goals from John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson, but the Premier League drought remains intact.

Nottingham Forest are one place and one point above Villa in 16th, with two draws and one defeat from their opening three fixtures.

Forest lost 0-1 at home to Leeds United on the opening day before drawing 2-2 away at Liverpool and 0-0 at home against Tottenham, a pair of results that suggest Glasner’s side are competitive enough to take something from fixtures against established top-half sides.

Villa’s only home Premier League match this season ended in a 0-1 defeat to Arsenal without Emery’s side creating enough clear chances to trouble the visitors’ goal.

Glasner’s squad, by contrast, have already shown they can score away from home this season, with Dan Ndoye and Morgan Gibbs-White both finding the net in the 2-2 draw at Anfield.

Head-to-Head: Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest

Villa have dominated this fixture in recent seasons, winning three of the last five meetings and losing only once, a 0-1 defeat in the Europa League semi-final second leg at the City Ground in April 2026.

The most recent meeting at Villa Park was a 4-0 Villa win in the Europa League in May 2026, and the last Premier League meeting there finished 3-1 to Villa in January 2026.

The overall record across the last 18 meetings reads eight Villa wins, five Forest wins and five draws.

A Saturday 3:00pm kick-off at home 🏠 pic.twitter.com/XiSAWPiGfX

— Aston Villa (@AstonVilla) September 10, 2026

Team News: Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest

Aston Villa

Villa are without Amadou Onana for the season after the Belgian ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during the 2026 World Cup.

Leon Goretzka is also sidelined with a knee injury and is not expected to return before October.

Joao Gomes is suspended in the Premier League after a red card for violent conduct on his Villa debut against Brighton on August 23, though the ban does not apply to European competition, which is why the midfielder played against Club Brugge in midweek.

Matty Cash is a minor doubt with muscular tightness but is expected to start at right-back, while Johan Manzambi and Brian Madjo are longer-term doubts from World Cup injuries.

Getting ready. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/tfAUpzMEBs

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) September 11, 2026

Nottingham Forest (Ola Aina present)

For Forest, Nicolo Savona is out with a knee injury until at least October.

Ibrahim Sangare is a doubt with a calf problem, but the rest of the squad is available, including summer signing Liam Delap.

Aina is expected to operate as the right wing-back in Glasner’s back-three system, a role that will see him match up directly against Villa’s left-back Ian Maatsen for much of the afternoon.

Star Player Watch: Ola Aina vs John McGinn

The Managers: Unai Emery vs Oliver Glasner

Emery, 54, has led Aston Villa since November 2022, turning a squad in relegation danger into a Champions League qualifier.

His win rate at Villa stands at 55% across 201 matches, according to FotMob, but this opening stretch of the 2026-27 season is the worst run of results in his entire Birmingham tenure.

Glasner, 52, arrived at Nottingham Forest this summer from Crystal Palace, where he spent roughly two and a half years building a stable, organised side at Selhurst Park.

The Austrian is attempting to replicate that work in the East Midlands with a heavily reworked squad that includes new arrivals.

Tactical Preview: Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest

Without Gomes and Onana, Villa’s midfield pivot of Boubacar Kamara and Ross Barkley is more creative than combative, which opens space between the lines for Gibbs-White to receive the ball in the half-spaces he thrives in.

Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 shape will use width through the wing-backs to stretch Villa’s back four, with Aina pushing high on the right and Neco Williams doing the same on the left, forcing Villa’s full-backs to choose between tracking them and supporting their own attacks.

Villa will look to dominate possession through the flanks, relying on Maatsen and Cash to provide crossing opportunities that Jackson can attack in the box, but Forest’s three centre-backs are well suited to dealing with that kind of aerial supply.

The vulnerability for Forest lies in the transition: if Villa win the ball back high, the space behind Aina and Williams is exploitable, and Buendia in particular has the movement to find those pockets.

Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest Betting Tips and Predictions

Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest Score Prediction