- Six of Nottingham Forest's seven Premier League wins this season came against teams in the bottom eight
- Aston Villa are on course for the Champions League round of 16 after Tuesday's 3-2 win at RB Leipzig
- Recommended bet: Draw at 23/10 with LiveScore Bet

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have both made impressive starts to the season and the former European champions meet at the City Ground on Saturday.

The clubs kick off their weekend fixture level on 25 points after 15 Premier League games – just two points behind champions Manchester City.

That represents significant progress for Forest while Villa are also going strong in the Champions League, boosting their chances of a top-eight finish with a dramatic 3-2 win at RB Leipzig on Tuesday.

Team news

Nottingham Forest's on-loan defender Alex Moreno is ineligible to play against his parent club. Neco Williams could continue at left-back but Ibrahim Sangare and Danilo are injured.

Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey will be assessed after missing the midweek Champions League trip to Leipzig.

Striker Ollie Watkins came off at half-time in Germany and is also a doubt while Jacob Ramsey (thigh) is set to be sidelined until the new year.

The latest Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa odds are available on LiveScore Bet

The stats

Six of Nottingham Forest's last seven league matches featured over 2.5 goals

Forest have won three of their last four home games to nil

Chris Wood has scored the first goal in three of Forest's last four matches at the City Ground

Aston Villa have kept only one clean sheet in their last 14 away league fixtures

Both teams have scored in five of Villa's last six league wins on the road

Six of Villa's last seven league goals were scored in the first half

Prediction

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have identical Premier League records this season, winning seven, drawing four and losing four of their first 15 games.

They could prove hard to separate on Saturday and the draw looks an appealing bet given the context of the game.

Villa, fourth in the Premier League last season, are more likely to keep pace with the top clubs over the course of the campaign but they had a gruelling midweek Champions League trip to Leipzig.

Forest had lost three of their previous four matches before last weekend's thrilling 3-2 victory at Manchester United and four of their seven league wins have come on the road this season.

They shocked Liverpool 1-0 in a smash-and-grab raid at Anfield in September but their other six league victories all came against teams who started this round of fixtures in the bottom eight.

Nuno Espirito Santo's men needed a Chris Wood penalty to edge past Ipswich in their last home game and they may have to settle for a point against a classy Villa side this weekend.

Back the Draw, available at 23/10 with LiveScore Bet

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