In the fifth minute, Ola Aina opened the scoring for Forest with his debut goal for the club, as he expertly side-footed the ball into the net from 25 yards out. This goal was set up by Anthony Elanga’s run down the left wing, followed by Harry Toffolo’s precise pass.

Aston Villa had the opportunity to move into third place in the Premier League with a win, but instead, they suffered their first league defeat since September 3rd, when they were defeated 3-0 by Liverpool at Anfield.

With the score at 1-0, Nicolo Zanolo had a chance to equalize for the visiting team, but his shot was saved by Forest’s debutant goalkeeper, Odysseas Vlachodimos, who also denied Ollie Watkins with another save.

Forest extended their lead shortly after the second half began when Orel Mangala unleashed a powerful 25-yard strike that left Villa’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez red-faced. Despite Martinez managing to get a strong hand on the shot, he couldn’t prevent the ball from crossing the goal line.

This victory propelled Forest from 16th to 12th place in the Premier League standings, while Villa remained in fifth place.

Forest manager Steve Cooper expressed his satisfaction with the win, stating, “It’s a win we really wanted.”

“We knew it was going to be a really tough game. “We had to be really clear on the plan. It’s pleasing for us to score two goals in the way we thought we could create chances.”

“A real gratitude to the players in terms of committing to the plan and we scored early in both halves. I never felt we would concede today – Aston Villa couldn’t carve us open too many times.”

Nottingham Forest performance and stats

Nottingham Forest is currently 12th in the Premier League with 13 points.

In the last 11 games, it has won 3 times, drawn 4 times, and lost 4 times. In its last match, Nottingham Forest won 2-0 against Aston Villa.​​

It has a negative goal difference after scoring 12 goals and conceding 15.​

Nottingham Forest will play the next match in Premier League against West Ham United on Saturday 11th of November in London.​

Aston Villa performance and stats

Aston Villa is currently 1st in the Europa Conference League with 6 points.

In the last 5 games, it has won 4 times and lost once. In its last match, Aston Villa won 1-4 against AZ.​​

It has a positive goal difference after scoring 7 goals and conceding 4.​

Aston Villa will play the next match in Europa Conference League against AZ on Thursday 9th of November in Birmingham. The prediction is Aston Villa winning the match.​