Aston Villa predicted line-up vs. Nottingham Forest: big change made as £13m defender nears return

Aston Villa just went the whole of October without tasting defeat and are looking to win a fourth consecutive match when they travel across the Midlands to the face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Forest, by comparison, didn’t win a single game in October and haven’t picked up three points since beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge at the beginning of September. Unai Emery’s attempts to pile misery on will be smoothed by the fact that he has only a few decisions to make when it comes to injury – and they’re getting even closer to a full complement after a key defender returned to training following a lengthy injury lay-off.

We’ve pulled together all the latest injury updates and team news for you ahead of the trip to the City Ground, and registered our verdict on the likely line-up below.

Goalkeeper & Defence

The big news from Villa Park this week is that left-back Àlex Moreno is finally back in full training following a hamstring injury that has kept him out for the entirety of the season so far. Moreno had been named on the bench for the games against Crystal Palace and Legia Warsaw but wasn’t fully fit and ended up going back to remedial fitness work – but has now rejoined the squad in regular training.

Sunday’s game will surely be too soon for a start, but there’s some chance that he’s back on the bench and able to make at least a cameo appearance for Villa if required. The only Villa defender unavailable now is, of course, Tyrone Mings, who is not expected to play again this season after an awful knee injury on the opening weekend against Newcastle. There are no suspensions, but Lucas Digne is one yellow card away from missing a match.

Emiliano Martínez, meanwhile, will play his first match since being officially named the best goalkeeper in the world. The Argentine World Cup winner picked up the Yachine Trophy at Monday night’s Ballon d’Or ceremony and is expected to have made a full recovery from any champagne hangovers that he may have sustained while in Paris.

Midfield

Jacob Ramsey is still unavailable, with no return date yet set after he was injured during the 6-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion back in September – with it being a recurrence of a prior metatarsal injury, it is likely that the England Under-21 international will be out for a few weeks yet.

Emiliano Buendía is the other long-term absentee and won’t be expected back in action until around February, but young midfielder Tim Iroegbunam, who hasn’t yet featured thank to injury, is believed to be fully fit after he was named on the bench against Luton Town last weekend. He impressed on loan at QPR last season and could be a valuable addition to the squad as the season wears on. Douglas Luiz, like Digne, is one booking away from suspension.

Forwards

The only question mark over the Villa front line lingers over the head of Colombian striker Jhón Duran, who is suffering from an infected toe and has consequently missed the last two league games. He is likely to be back soon after what sounds like a rather painful problem, but we await word from Emery as to whether he’s liable to play against Forest.

Full predicted line-up vs. Nottingham Forest

Martínez; Digne, Torres, Konsa, Cash; McGinn, Luiz, Kamara, Bailey; Diaby, Watkins.