At A Glance
Aston Villa visit the City Ground in the Premier League for the first time since 1998 when they take on Nottingham Forest on Monday night.
The visitors will be looking to build on a three-game unbeaten run by picking up a maiden away win of the league campaign.
Steven Gerrard’s side drew 0-0 with Leeds United at Elland Road last time out, and they’ll be hoping to improve on the six goals they’ve scored in the top flight thus far.
Despite a tough start to life in the Premier League, Forest boss Steve Cooper signed a contract extension in the build-up to the game.
The Reds are on a five-match losing run and have lost six of their eight matches in the league to date.
Forest have shipped 21 goals, including four in a loss to Leicester City last time out, as they prop up the table heading into Monday night.
Standout Stats
This is the first league meeting between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa since the latter's 3-1 away win in 2019 in the Championship. The other game that season was a 5-5 draw at Villa Park.
Nottingham Forest have won just one of the 10 Premier League meetings. The referee for that victory, away in 1994, was Keith Cooper - father of current Forest manager Steve.
Villa's last eight Premier League goals have been scored by eight different players.
Forest won only one of their past 14 matches against Villa in all competitions, a 2-1 home victory in the Championship in February 2017.
Nottingham Forest have suffered five league defeats in a row in a season for the first time since January 2004.
They could lose more than six of their opening nine league fixtures of a league campaign for the first time since 1913 in the second tier.
Aston Villa have earned five points from their past three league games, as they did in their previous nine.
Forest can equal the club Premier League record of six consecutive defeats, set from August to September 1992.
Forest have faced the most shots (136) and most shots on target (56) in the Premier League this season prior to the latest round of matches.
Villa have kept clean sheets in successive Premier League fixtures after a run of 11 without one.
Forest's tally of 21 goals conceded after eight league matches this season is a top-flight club record.
The Reds have let in a league-high nine goals from outside the penalty area in this campaign.
Forest have conceded at least once from outside the box in each of their last six matches, the longest such run by any team in Premier League history.
The Last Meeting
Villa’s last meeting with Forest came in a Championship encounter back in March 2019 at the City Ground.
Jack Colback got the hosts off to a flyer, netting after three minutes, before John McGinn replied with two goals in eight minutes.
Kortney Hause opened his account for the club in the second half to wrap up a 3-1 win.
Team News
Steven Gerrard is boosted by the return of Matty Cash, who is available for selection after a month on the sidelines.
Calum Chambers is in contention to be involved, while Leon Bailey is dealing with a muscle injury. Lucas Digne and Ludwig Augustinsson have been ruled out.
For Forest, Emmanuel Dennis and Serge Aurier could return, while Moussa Niakhate and Omar Richards are long-term absentees.
The Boss
“We’re a goal away from being around the mid-table places. If we score against Leeds, we’re in a much healthier position. We’ve got another opportunity against Forest to go away and try and build on our recent performances and try to get an away win. If we do, we’ll creep closer to where we want to be. Recent performances have given us a platform but there’s no one on the inside at Villa who thinks we’re there. We know we’ve got to keep pushing in every way, shape and form.”
Steven Gerrard
