Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa Preview & Prediction | 2025-26 UEFA Europa League | Semi-Final
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We have an all-English semi-final in the UEFA Europa League this season as Aston Villa face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground this week.
Kick-off date/time:
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Key stats
- This is the first UEFA meeting between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa. Although the sides have faced each other regularly in the Premier League in recent years, their last knockout encounter was a 1-0 away win for Aston Villa in the 1995/96 FA Cup quarter‑finals.
- This is the first all‑English UEFA men’s club competition semi‑final since the 2008/09 Champions League, when Manchester United defeated Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate. No two English clubs have met in the semi‑finals during the Europa League era; the only all‑English semi‑final in the UEFA Cup era came in 1972/73, when Liverpool faced Tottenham and advanced on away goals.
- Nottingham Forest’s only previous UEFA meetings with an English club came against Liverpool in the 1978/79 European Cup first round, where Forest won 2–0 on aggregate after a 2–0 home victory and a 0–0 draw at Anfield.
- Nottingham Forest are appearing in their first UEFA semi‑final since the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, when they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Anderlecht. Forest had won the first leg 2-0 at home, but saw that advantage overturned with a 3-0 defeat in Belgium.
- Nottingham Forest have won two and lost one of their three previous UEFA semi‑final ties. Their most recent success came in the 1979/80 European Cup, where they defeated Ajax 2-1 on aggregate.
- Nottingham Forest have won four of their last six UEFA Europa League home matches (L2), keeping clean sheets in each of those four victories.
- Nottingham Forest have lost only three of their last 12 UEFA Europa League matches (W7 D2).
- This is Aston Villa’s first UEFA encounter against an English club.
- This is Aston Villa’s first UEFA Cup/Europa League semi‑final. They are the 14th different English club to reach this stage across both eras of the competition.
- Aston Villa are competing in a UEFA semi‑final for the second time in three seasons, having lost 6-2 on aggregate to Olympiacos in the 2023/24 UEFA Conference League semi‑finals. Their only other appearance in a major UEFA semi‑final (excluding the Intertoto Cup) came in the 1981/82 European Cup, when they defeated Anderlecht 1-0 on aggregate.
- Aston Villa have won 15 of their last 17 UEFA competition matches (L2), including each of their most recent nine — the longest winning streak in the club’s UEFA history and an English record in the Europa League proper, surpassing the previous best of eight set by Chelsea between 2013 and 2018.
- Aston Villa coach Unai Emery is competing in his seventh UEFA Europa League semi‑final as a coach, having won five ties in a row since losing in the 2011/12 semi‑finals with Valencia.
- Ollie Watkins has scored four goals in Aston Villa’s four previous matches in the knockout phase of the 2025/26 Europa League.
Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa prediction
Nottingham Forest can pour their energy and focus into this tie with survival in the Premier League now all but secure after they demolished Sunderland by five goals to nil at the Stadium of Light with an emphatic and impressive performance on Wearside. Vitor Pereira struggled at the start of his reign but is now finding form at the crunch end of the campaign.
Unai Emery was often exasperated and angered by Aston Villa's poor performance in the Premier League at the weekend as the Villans succumbed to a slender 1-0 loss to an out of form Fulham side at Craven Cottage due to a Ryan Sessegnon winner scored mid-way through the second-half. Unai Emery is a four-time UEL winner, though, so he is a good man to have at the helm when a reaction is required.
Aston Villa will want to ensure the tie is, at worst, level pegging as they arrive back in Birmingham, while Forest have become tough to beat with an eight-match unbeaten run of form across all competitions, and so a lower scoring encounter seems a good shout for what may be a cagey first-leg.
Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa tip: Under 2.5 goals
