Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa prediction: Record-breaking Wood can stay on goal trail | OneFootball

Aston Villa face the tricky trip to Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s late kick-off as they return to Premier League action after more success in Europe (5:30pm, Sky Sports Main Event).

A late goal from Ross Barkley earned them a 3-2 win away at RB Leipzig, after the home side twice got back level cancelling out strikes from John McGinn and Jhon Duran.

They have been one of the surprise packages in this season’s Champions League, but they have struggled to combine the added pressures from the European games with the bread and butter of the Premier League.

They have only enjoyed one win in the league games straight after their European exploits, losing two and drawing the other two, and it’s not going to be easy on Saturday.

Forest are one place above Villa in the Premier League table on goal difference and their form has been a surprise, sitting just two points below Manchester City in fourth place.

It is a huge turnaround after finishing just one place above the relegation zone in May but some shrewd signings from manager Nuno Espírito Santo, including Elliott Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic have certainly added quality to their squad.

Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa betting preview: Wood the difference for Forest

Their position has been largely helped by the form of striker Chris Wood, who has scored 16 goals in 20 appearances for club and country so far this season.

The Kiwi international has scored 14 league goals in his last two seasons with Forest, which is his highest return so far, and he already has 10 from just 15 games.

Football betting sites have him at 11/2 to score first on Saturday or 2/1 on him scoring anytime and as he has scored first seven times already this season, that seems like a good price.

He has also scored four goals against Villa in the nine games he’s played but never for Forest. He bagged three for Burnley when the sides met in Premier League and once for Leeds United in the Championship, so no doubt he would love to add to that tally this weekend.

Forest have only failed to score three times this season and only once at home. But they have also conceded in all but three of their eight games at the City Ground and they were against strugglers Crystal Palace, West Ham and Ipswich.

Saturday’s opponents Aston Villa have scored 23 and conceded 23 in the league this season.

In the league, they have only failed to score on four occasions - against Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. They have only kept two clean sheets against United and Southampton last time out, so both teams to score seems like a reasonable option.

The prices on betting sites show bookmakers are struggling to split these two with Forest narrow favourites and you can get a draw at 5/2.

The fact they both have identical league records and Villa are coming off the back of their midweek trip to Germany means we’re going for a score draw.

Please gamble responsibly

When having a bet, it’s vital to practice responsible gambling.

Betting can be addictive and it’s important to stay in control of your betting. Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.

Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help them stay in control.

But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.