Unai Emery believes his Aston Villa side are in a strong position in their process as a team after putting one foot into the Champions League knockout stages with their win over RB Leipzig.
Villa have won each of their last three games in all competitions, after winning just three of their previous 13 matches (D5 L5), moving them up to third in the new 36-team standings.
The Villans know a victory against either Monaco or Celtic in their final two games in the Champions League will see them finish in the automatic positions in the table.
And while the win pleased Emery, his immediate focus was on Villa’s upcoming trip to the City Ground this Saturday to take on Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
"Sometimes a spell of bad results is coming. Sometimes good results now, with the three victories, two in the league and one today, can help us to feel confident and strong in our process," Emery said.
"Today we are happy, but now I’m thinking about Saturday against Nottingham Forest and trying to recover quickly the players that played today and to get the others ready."
Tuesday’s match-winner Ross Barkley echoed his manager’s thoughts, saying: "Important, we needed that win. It pushes us higher up the table, and we’ve done really well in the Champions League.
"One game at a time, we’ve got to try and win the games. That’s our focus, that’s our aim, to get through, and now our eyes are on the game at the weekend."
But Forest are coming down from a high of their own after earning back-to-back victories against Manchester United for the first time since 1992 with their 3-2 win at Old Trafford.
After picking up just one triumph in four league games heading into Saturday’s game, Forest got themselves back on track and moved up to fifth in the Premier League table.
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo understood the magnitude of the victory and urged supporters to enjoy it, insisting their latest win is only the start of where he wants to take the club.
"It means a lot for us as a club. Forest is a huge club that hasn’t had special moments like this for a long time. We should celebrate and be proud of this," Nuno said.
"Me, I think about Villa. Let the fans celebrate, now we will start to prepare for the next one.
"But I’m very proud of being part of this group of players and the squad. We are trying to do something together and build something nice."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood
Wood is one of only four players to score 10+ Premier League goals this season, with only Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland (both 13) and Cole Palmer (11) scoring more than the New Zealander.
He is also the first Forest player to score 10 Premier League goals in a campaign before Christmas, while he’s the first Forest player to do so in a league term since Lewis Grabban in the Championship back in 2021-22.
Aston Villa – Jhon Duran
Duran, who turns 21 the day before Villa’s trip to the City Ground, has scored 10 Premier League goals for the Villans, netting the winner in four of their seven wins this season.
He’s one of three players to score 10 goals for Villa before turning 21, along with Gabriel Agbonlahor (13) and Luke Moore (11).
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
This will be Forest’s 5,000th match in the top four tiers of English football, the 12th side to reach that milestone in English Football League history.
However, Saturday’s hosts have won just one of their last 11 Premier League games against Villa (D5 L5), though it was a 2-0 victory in this exact fixture last season.
But they have turned the City Ground into a fortress. Forest have won three of their last four home games in the Premier League (L1), as many as their previous 17 beforehand (W3 D4 L10).
Villa, meanwhile, are winless in their last five top-flight away games against Forest, though four of these have ended level. Their last such victory was in January 1995 under Brian Little (2-1).
The Villans have lost each of their last three away league games, their longest such run since losing four in a row from May to August 2022. All three defeats in their current spell have been by 2+ goals – they last lost more in succession by such a margin on the road in the league in September 1968 as a second-tier side (five).
Villa also won seven of their first 12 Premier League games under Emery against teams starting the day in the top five of the table (D1 L4) but have since lost five of their last seven (W1 D1), including all three this season, by an aggregate score of 7-0.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nottingham Forest – 36.2%
Draw – 26.2%
Aston Villa – 37.6%
Schlotterbeck injury is a 'complete disaster' for Dortmund, says Sahin
Borussia Dortmund have added defender Nico Schlotterbeck to their ever-growing injury list after he turned his ankle during their 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The news of Schlotterbeck's injury comes just a day after head coach Nuri Sahin said Niklas Sule would be a long-term absentee, while Waldemar Anton is also unavailable.
Sahin said Schlotterbeck's absence would be a major blow after he was injured in the final move of the game while putting a header over in an attempt to equalise.
The 25-year-old was taken off the pitch on a stretcher and Sahin did not hold back when asked about the potential impact of his absence.
"It would be a complete disaster if he was also sidelined," Sahin said. "I don't have a diagnosis yet but obviously he is completely dejected.
"I saw the images and they are horrible. We will have a sleepless night tonight and then we will have to see how it develops tomorrow."
Dortmund's injury list has stretched to as many as 10 players at points this season and has taken its toll on their results.
The German side are currently sixth in the Bundesliga, 12 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
The defeat to Barcelona on Wednesday, meanwhile, saw them drop to ninth in the Champions League table – one place outside the automatic last-16 qualifying spots.
"I am fuming because we played well," said Sahin. "We have to win these games. We deserved more in the second half.
"I do not want to hear that we played a good game. There is no room for mistakes and we have to learn that.
"We keep up with these top teams but in the end I want to sit here and say, 'we won the game'. That is the development we need."
Ashworth's shock exit 'not the best situation', says Amorim
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has acknowledged the departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth is "not the best situation".
Ashworth had spent just 159 days with the club before his surprise exit was announced on Sunday, although Amorim believes the club's vision for the future remains unchanged.
"The first thing I want to say is that, since the first day, I felt great support from the ownership," said Amorim, who took charge on November 11.
"From Omar [Berrada, chief executive], from Dan also, from Jason [Wilcox, technical director]. Dan was part of that, and I really felt support from Dan also.
"But this is football and sometimes these things happen. It happens with players, with coaches.
"I know that it's not the best situation but the important thing is we continue in our way. The path is really clear for everybody and I think this can happen in football."
Amorim himself has only been in the job at Old Trafford for one month, having won two and drawn one of his five matches in charge in all competitions.
During the same press conference, he was asked whether he felt that the club was more unstable than when he had arrived last month.
"I don't think so," he said. "I've felt since day one the support from everybody, so one person leaving doesn't change anything.
"Of course, it's a bad situation, because we are talking about a human being, a professional, that supports us as a team.
"But I think the most important thing is that your vision is really clear and that vision doesn't change if only one person leaves."
Lewis-Skelly 'a joy to watch' says Arteta after Arsenal's Champions League win
Mikel Arteta described Arsenal's 18-year-old full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly as a "joy to watch" after he impressed in their comprehensive 3-0 Champions League win over Monaco.
At the age of 18 years and 76 days, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to start a Champions League game for Arsenal since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain versus Olympiakos in 2011 (18 years, 44 days).
His inclusion owed to injuries keeping Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu out, while Jakub Kiwior was required to deputise at centre-back and Jurrien Timber was limited to a place on the bench.
He made the most of his opportunity, though, completing 45 of his 47 passes attempted (96%).
That gave him the highest pass accuracy by an Arsenal teenager in a Champions League match (minimum 25 passes) since Johan Djourou versus Hamburg in September 2006 (97%) – the month in which Lewis-Skelly was born.
"A really proud moment," Arteta said of Lewis-Skelly's display. "He is one of our own and a joy to watch. It's great we can trust him to play in this environment."
On Arsenal's general performance, he added: "In the first half we should have put the game to bed but we didn't.
"In the Champions League you will have difficult moments and we suffered. Then with the second goal the game was under control."
Arsenal sit third in the 36-team Champions League table with two group-phase games remaining, ahead of facing Dinamo Zagreb and Girona next month.
Monaco, meanwhile, are 16th with 10 points after suffering back-to-back Champions League defeats.
"First of all, a deserved victory for Arsenal. Too many gifts from our side, it's not acceptable at this level," visiting coach Adi Hutter said.
"I was happy with the first 20 minutes and also until the second goal. The second half was really brave, but in the end there were too many big mistakes."
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