Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest LIVE: Team news and line-ups from Europa League

So no Gibbs-White in the starting XI, with Aina – who featured in last week’s leg – dropping out of the squad entirely in the only other change from that game. Cunha and McAtee come in instead.

In better news for Forest, important defender Murillo is fit enough to make the bench after some recent injury woes.

Young defender Abbott, who featured against Chelsea but came off as a concussion substitute, is also not involved.

Unai Emery makes one change to the side that lost the opening leg, with Lindelof making a surprise appearance in midfield, in place of Onana.

The big news for tonight is that Gibbs-White, who sustained a nasty facial injury in Forest’s recent Premier League win over Chelsea and needed at least 11 stitches, is on the bench.

Forest will need Jesus, McAtee and Wood to step up in his place.

Nottingham Forest XI: Ortega, Cunha, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Hutchinson, Dominguez, Anderson, McAtee, Jesus, Wood.

Substitutes: Sels, Willows, Murillo, Sangare, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Lucca, Yates, Bakwa, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne, Tielemans, Lindelof, McGinn, Buendia, Rogers, Watkins

Substitutes: Bizot, Wright, Bogarde, Maatsen, Mings, Garcia, Luiz, Bailey, Elliott, Sancho, Abraham

Nottingham Forest’s Igor Jesus has been directly involved in the most away goals in this season’s Europa League (5 – 4 goals, 1 assist).

He has also had the most shots (34), shots on target (16) and posted the highest xG figure (6.7) in the competition overall this term.

Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers has been directly involved in five goals in six home appearances in this season’s Europa League (2 goals, 3 assists), while he has also scored (1) or assisted (1) in his last two outings at Villa Park against Nottingham Forest in all competitions.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has only once before lost both legs of a knockout stage tie in the Uefa Cup/Europa League and that was with Valencia against Atlético de Madrid in the 2011-12 semi-finals.

In fact, that was the last two-legged tie the Spaniard was eliminated from in this competition, progressing from 22 in a row since.

The meek manner in which the home side sank to their worst run of losses since 1993 was in stark contrast to Forest who came to west London with a second-string XI and won with room to spare to pull six points clear of the relegation zone.

No team have recorded more clean sheets in the 2025-26 Europa League than both Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest (7).

Forest restricted Villa to an xG of 0.8 in the first leg, their second lowest tally in a knockout stage game this term.