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Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Key statspublished at 19:35 5 April
19:35 5 April
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Aston Villa have won seven consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since a 10-game winning streak between March and April 2019 while playing in the Championship. They have done so as a top-flight side for the first time since March 1981 (7 games).
There was just 138 seconds between Morgan Rogers' opener (12:15) and Donyell Malen (14:33) putting Aston Villa 2-0 up.
Seven of Morgan Rogers' eight Premier League goals this season have either put Aston Villa in the lead (4) or drawn them level (3).
Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest - send us your thoughtspublished at 19:25 5 April
19:25 5 April
Were you at Villa Park or following from elsewhere?
Sutton's predictions: Aston Villa v Nottingham Forestpublished at 11:03 5 April
11:03 5 April
Nottingham Forest are flying, but so are Aston Villa - they have now won six on the spin.
Forest nicked the points late on at the City Ground when Villa went there in December, coming from 1-0 down after 87 minutes to win it in stoppage time.
This will be just as close, and I cannot really call a winner.
Even if they do drop points here, I am still confident Forest will finish in the Champions League places.
We saw again when they beat Manchester United on Tuesday that they are not bothered about possession because of their threat on the break and Anthony Elanga's winner in that game was one of my favourite goals of the season.
The way he took it was really intelligent, because he had the option to pop the ball out to the left but the United backline kept backing off, and he just kept on going. His finish was devastating too and, overall, it reminded me of me in my pomp with the way I used to drive up the pitch.
It's going to be harder for Aston Villa to make the top five, because they still have the Champions League and FA Cup to think about, but they are on a great run and, at the moment, they have the depth in the squad they need even if they make changes here before they face Paris St-Germain next week.
I don't think Villa boss Unai Emery will prioritise any of the three competitions. They are in them all, so he will go for it in all three - and so he should.
Should Villa prioritise a competition?published at 17:46 4 April
17:46 4 April
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Aston Villa play Nottingham Forest this weekend and I think that will be a difficult test for Unai Emery's men.
Villa are inconsistent, but that is probably not helped by the amount of games they have played this season juggling competitions. It is hard.
They had to strengthen in January and those players are really helping them as Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford have found their form at a critical stage.
I think this game will be good, exciting contest and Villa Park is always a difficult place to go too.
Villa will need to find a way to break down Forest's stern defence if they are to get anything from it.
They have a busy few weeks ahead on three fronts so it is is hard to know what to prioritise, but Emery is known for winning cup competitions.
If I was a Villa fan then I would want to finish this season with a trophy and prioritising the FA Cup is the way I would go around doing that.
Plus, that is a route into Europe.
They face Crystal Palace at Wembley and many will see that as a winnable game to progress to the final, where anything can then happen on the day.
If they are to beat Forest then Manchester City haven't shown themselves this season so anyone could beat anyone looking at these semi-finals.
But when you are in the Champions League still and it is two-legs in the quarter-final, you can fancy your chances on the day in that competition as well.
Plus, Emery will try and compete in that, the FA Cup and the Premier League because he has the squad depth to do so.
Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford
Emery on team news, Rashford's 500th appearance, and Forestpublished at 14:50 4 April
14:50 4 April
Karan Vinod BBC Sport journalist
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park (kick-off 17:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On the fitness of forward Leon Bailey: "Bailey is getting better but we will check this afternoon how he is progressing. We can feel happy because now we are recovering players and not getting players injured and I will decide this afternoon how the players are for tomorrow."
However, Emery had good news regarding Ollie Watkins, who has been able to recover fully from the same injury he started the season with during the international break and is available to face Forest.
On the importance of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's personality: "The commitment he has with the team is necessary, fantastic, and always very positive."
The Spaniard said he was "happy for him" as Marcus Rashford prepares for his 500th appearance, adding that he is trying to help the on-loan forward achieve his "best form, qualities and confidence".
On Forest and Nuno Espirito Santo: "Fantastic in his character as a coach. Fantastic football. Very competitive and fantastic how they are competing and playing. Respect them a lot."
FA Cup semi-finals confirmedpublished at 14:21 4 April
14:21 4 April
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The schedule for the FA Cup semi-finals has been confirmed.
Saturday, 26 April
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa, 17:15 BST, BBC One
Sunday, 27 April
Nottingham Forest v Manchester City, 16:30 BST
Both ties will take place at Wembley Stadium.
Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest: Did you know?published at 09:17 4 April
09:17 4 April
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Aston Villa are unbeaten in their past eight home league games against Nottingham Forest. They have also scored at least twice in each of the past seven.
Following their 2-1 win at the City Ground in December, Nottingham Forest are looking to complete their first league double over Aston Villa since 1984-85.
Gossip: Villa set Rashford contract expectationspublished at 07:25 4 April
Villa also have a clear path to pursue 20-year-old Real Madrid winger Arda Guler, after Liverpool ended their interest in the Turkey international. (Teamtalk), external
'All his hard work is paying off' - Hart on Rashfordpublished at 12:13 3 April
12:13 3 April
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart says Marcus Rashford looks happy at Aston Villa and has got back the feeling of playing well and being appreciated.
Hart said: "It feels like all his hard work is paying off at the moment and he's in a team that believes in him. He does [look happy] and it's great to see.
"The past is the past. He just wants to be a footballer who plays well and is appreciated. He's had that feeling before and he lost it. We all know what you want when you've had that feeling - can you get it back. He has shown everything in himself, deep down, to get back to that feeling."
Media caption,
Are Villa starting to get the best out of Rashford?
Brighton 0-3 Aston Villa - the fans' verdictpublished at 11:47 3 April
11:47 3 April
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We asked for your views on Brighton's Premier League match against Aston Villa. Here are some of your comments:
Brighton fans
Jon: Another game in which Brighton are outperformed by a physically stronger and well organised team. Just as they did with Everton and Nottingham Forest, Brighton seemed lightweight compared with Villa.
Fran: Very lacklustre from the Seagulls with too many passes going astray, poor decision-making around the Villa goal and a defence that seemed very unsure. Also, I am not sure why we play the ball into the corner and give defenders time to get across in numbers and block everything. We need to be more aggressive and direct and somebody needs to take responsibility and have a shot at goal instead of passing it! Never normally leave a game early but I did with this. Nothing to get excited about.
Rob: Scoreline really did not reflect the game. The disallowed goal, which was a marginal decision, changed the game. Looking forward to next season when something is done about the ridiculous time-wasting, which is spoiling the game for spectators.
Villa fans
James: Not our best performance but it just shows the mentality of the team now, winning when not completely firing. Also being able to bring those sort of players off the bench to change and influence games is amazing.
David: Brighton were very good but our quality showed in the end. Two assists for Morgan Rogers and great to see Donyell Malen score and get some love from the fans. Every game between now and the end of the season is a cup final for us to make the top five. It's lucky Emery is a bit of cup specialist!
Mike: Boubacar Kamara is just special - he's our Rodri, and he's no less of a player. One of, if not the most underrated players in world football. Love him!
January business 'the perfect advert' for Aston Villapublished at 10:27 3 April
10:27 3 April
Phil McNulty Chief football writer
Image source, Getty Images
Aston Villa's second-half goals against Brighton all came from players who arrived at the club in January, the perfect advert for a fiercely ambitious manager in Emery and the progressive thinking of co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
There was undoubtedly an element of gamble about Villa's work in January, but it is paying off as their season moves towards a potentially glorious conclusion fuelled by their work in this month.
It is a strategy reflected in results, with Villa's latest win putting them just three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City in the table with eight games left.
Before Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio made their league debuts, Villa had played 24 games, winning 10, drawing seven and losing seven with a points-per-game ratio of 1.54.
In the league games since, they have played six, won three, drawn two and lost one at 1.83 points per game - with both players making crucial contributions in the FA Cup and Champions League.
It remains to be seen if Villa can persuade - or indeed want - Asensio and Rashford to extend their stays, but the results in the short term are bringing rich dividends.
In a January window often characterised by panic buys and a desire to correct errors from the summer window, Villa have played it smart and can move towards the season's conclusion with huge optimism and expectation.
Gossip: Villa keen to extend Kamara's dealpublished at 07:40 3 April
07:40 3 April
Aston Villa are hoping to tie France midfielder Boubacar Kamara, 25, to a "historic" new contract to fend off interest in the summer. (Foot Mercato - in French), external
'Those three points are very important for the table' - Emerypublished at 23:14 2 April
23:14 2 April
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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to Sky Sports: "Every match we are facing is very difficult. More or less our challenge now is to try to be more consistent than we were before.
"Brighton have been very good in their matches here. The opponent was with us and we competed very well. We had enough chances to score and we were clinical.
"We weren't performing very well defensively and conceding more goals than usual. Today is a clean sheet and we are getting balance. Those three points are very important for the table. On Saturday we have Nottingham [Forest] and we know how difficult that will be.
"Try to be compact defensively and respect the opponent. Win some duels. This is the only way I know.
"Keep going is the message for him [Marcus Rashford]. Playing more minutes means he's getting physically better, he's scoring more goals. We're playing him as a striker and trying to compete with [Ollie] Watkins. Maybe going forward we can play them together.
"Try to exploit his [Rashford's] qualities. He's in the best confidence moment. On Sunday we planned to play him as a striker and he scored two goals so I decided to go again and he scored.
"We will analyse the match today and prepare for Nottingham Forest. The table is very tight. They are going fanatic this year. They are feeling confident, feeling so comfortable playing each match being successful."
Brighton 0-3 Aston Villa: Did you know?published at 22:43 2 April
22:43 2 April
Image source, Getty Images
Marco Asensio has scored eight goals in his past seven appearances for Aston Villa in all competitions. In fact, since his debut for the Villans he's scored more goals than any other Premier League player (eight in all competitions).
'Champions League is the main goal'published at 22:11 2 April
22:11 2 April
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Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, speaking to Sky Sports: "We knew this was an important game for us, it was must win. We came to win and that's what we did.
"The Champions League is the main goal. We'll focus on Saturday, another big one for us.
"I thought defensively we were excellent. All 11 of us stuck together. I didn't feel threatened at all. We managed to get them on the counter-attack a few times and we got a few goals.
"It was the desire from everyone. We've kept a few clean sheets in a row. In the last few games we've shown we can do it.
On goalscorer Marcus Rashford: "He's got a smile on his face again. He looks like he's enjoying football again. I'm so pleased for him.
"We have to take it game by game. Now it's all eyes on Saturday."
Brighton 0-3 Aston Villa - send us your thoughtspublished at 21:44 2 April
Image source, Getty Images
