Aston Villa welcome Nottingham Forest to Villa Park this Saturday in a 3:00pm BST kick-off that is one of five Premier League matches scheduled for that timeslot. American viewers can catch the action on Peacock from 10:00am ET, while Australian fans can tune in on Stan Sport from midnight AEST on Sunday.

Villa chasing their first league goal of the season

Aston Villa arrive at this fixture on the back of a promising midweek result in Europe — a 3-2 victory over Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League, with John McGinn earning the Player of the Match award. Yet manager Unai Emery knows the Premier League tells a different story: Villa have neither won nor scored in the league so far in 2026/27.

The club risk making an unwanted slice of history. Should they fail to score again on Saturday, they would become the first side in England's top four divisions to go scoreless in each of their opening four league matches in back-to-back seasons — having already done so in 2025/26.

There is at least some comfort in their home record against this opponent. Aston Villa have won each of their last six Premier League encounters with Nottingham Forest at Villa Park, and Emery will be eager to extend that run.

Emery will, however, be without several key players. Leon Goretzka, Johan Manzambi, and Amadou Onana are all sidelined with knee injuries, Brian Madjo is out with an ankle problem, and Joao Gomes serves the final match of his suspension.

Forest searching for a first win under Glasner

Nottingham Forest head to Birmingham without a victory from their opening three matches — two draws and one defeat — and new head coach Oliver Glasner, who replaced Vítor Pereira in July, is still chasing his first win in charge.

Forest's campaign began with back-to-back home defeats to Leeds United in both the Premier League and EFL Cup, before a 2-2 draw at Anfield against Liverpool offered some encouragement. Their last outing, however, was a goalless stalemate against Tottenham at the City Ground.

The broader context makes for difficult reading for Forest supporters. Among Premier League clubs in 2026, only Bournemouth (12), Brentford (11), and Leeds United (11) have drawn more matches than Forest's 10. Their head-to-head record against Aston Villa also gives little cause for optimism: across the previous 18 Premier League meetings between the sides, Forest have won just three, drawn six, and lost nine.

Prediction

With both sides struggling to find their best form in the early weeks of the season, a share of the spoils looks the most likely outcome. FourFourTwo predicts Aston Villa 1-1 Nottingham Forest.