Unai Emery’s side have failed to score in each of their opening three Premier League matches against Brighton, Arsenal and Hull City.
Another blank against Forest would mean Villa have gone goalless through their opening four league fixtures in consecutive seasons.
According to Sports Mole’s statistical preview, that would make Villa the first club across the top four divisions of English football to do so in successive campaigns.
It gives Emery another significant problem to solve despite Tuesday’s encouraging Champions League victory.
Aston Villa face repeat of historic goal drought
Villa endured an almost identical problem at the beginning of 2025/26.
They failed to score in each of their opening four Premier League fixtures for the first time in the club’s history, a record also confirmed by the Premier League’s review of that difficult start.
Villa eventually broke the drought through Matty Cash on matchweek five.
Now they are one game away from repeating those four opening blanks.
The underlying picture has at least started to improve.
Our analysis of Aston Villa’s xG and goal drought showed that Villa created 1.75 expected goals against Hull after producing only around 0.65 across the opening defeats to Brighton and Arsenal.
The chances finally became goals in Europe.
John McGinn, Emi Buendía and Nicolas Jackson all scored as Villa recorded a 3-2 Champions League victory over Club Brugge on Tuesday.
The challenge is now reproducing that attacking improvement domestically.
Nottingham Forest gives Villa chance to end Premier League drought
Forest arrive at Villa Park without a Premier League victory themselves.
That makes Saturday an important opportunity for Emery’s rebuilt attack.
Jackson opened his Villa account in Belgium and has since received strong backing from John McGinn, while Villa also have Alejandro Garnacho, Ibrahim Mbaye and George Hemmings competing for attacking places.
Emery still has several decisions to make, with the latest Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest team news tracking Matty Cash, Johan Manzambi and the rest of Villa’s availability.
There is reason for confidence.
Villa have won each of their last six Premier League home meetings with Nottingham Forest. Our Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest H2H guide details a Villa Park record stretching back decades.
But another victory will be considerably harder to find if the league scoring drought continues.
Tuesday proved this Aston Villa team can score.
Saturday now brings the opportunity to ensure an unwanted piece of English football history is avoided.
Aston Villa could make unwanted English football history when Nottingham Forest visit Villa Park on Saturday.
Unai Emery’s side have failed to score in each of their opening three Premier League matches against Brighton, Arsenal and Hull City.
Another blank against Forest would mean Villa have gone goalless through their opening four league fixtures in consecutive seasons.
According to Sports Mole’s statistical preview, that would make Villa the first club across the top four divisions of English football to do so in successive campaigns.
It gives Emery another significant problem to solve despite Tuesday’s encouraging Champions League victory.
Aston Villa face repeat of historic goal drought
Villa endured an almost identical problem at the beginning of 2025/26.
They failed to score in each of their opening four Premier League fixtures for the first time in the club’s history, a record also confirmed by the Premier League’s review of that difficult start.
Villa eventually broke the drought through Matty Cash on matchweek five.
Now they are one game away from repeating those four opening blanks.
The underlying picture has at least started to improve.
Our analysis of Aston Villa’s xG and goal drought showed that Villa created 1.75 expected goals against Hull after producing only around 0.65 across the opening defeats to Brighton and Arsenal.
The chances finally became goals in Europe.
John McGinn, Emi Buendía and Nicolas Jackson all scored as Villa recorded a 3-2 Champions League victory over Club Brugge on Tuesday.
The challenge is now reproducing that attacking improvement domestically.
Nottingham Forest gives Villa chance to end Premier League drought
Forest arrive at Villa Park without a Premier League victory themselves.
That makes Saturday an important opportunity for Emery’s rebuilt attack.
Jackson opened his Villa account in Belgium and has since received strong backing from John McGinn, while Villa also have Alejandro Garnacho, Ibrahim Mbaye and George Hemmings competing for attacking places.
Emery still has several decisions to make, with the latest Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest team news tracking Matty Cash, Johan Manzambi and the rest of Villa’s availability.
There is reason for confidence.
Villa have won each of their last six Premier League home meetings with Nottingham Forest. Our Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest H2H guide details a Villa Park record stretching back decades.
But another victory will be considerably harder to find if the league scoring drought continues.
Tuesday proved this Aston Villa team can score.
Saturday now brings the opportunity to ensure an unwanted piece of English football history is avoided.
