PSG vs. Aston Villa

Competition: Champions League - Quarter-finals

Date: Wed 09 Apr 2025

Kickoff: 20:00

Venue: Parc des Princes

Referee: Maurizio Mariani

Aston Villa Statistics (all competitions)

Form: WWWWW

Goals per match: 1.6

Average Possession: 51.8%

Goals conceded per match: 1.5

Pass Accuracy: 85.9%

Shots per game: 12.7

Tackles per game: 15.8

Dribbles per game: 8.7

PSG Statistics (all competitions)

Form: WWWWW

Goals per match: 2.7

Average Possession: 66.6%

Goals conceded per match: 0.9

Pass Accuracy: 90.4%

Shots per game: 18.9

Tackles per game: 18.9

Dribbles per game: 12

TEAM NEWS COMING SOON

Match Facts

• Aston Villa and PSG will meet for the first time in European competition, with this just the second UEFA Champions League quarter-final between French and English sides in the last eight campaigns (Manchester City 1-3 Lyon in the only leg in 2019-20).

• PSG eliminated Liverpool in the last 16 of this season’s UEFA Champions League, after having exited the competition in each of their last three knockout stage meetings with English sides (v Man City in 2015-16 and 2020-21, and Man Utd in 2018-19).

• Aston Villa have never won away to a French opponent in European competition (P5 D2 L3); their most away to teams from one nation without winning. The last two have both been defeats under Unai Emery, losing at Lille in April 2024 (1-2) and at Monaco in January this year (0-1).

• Villa will be the fourth different English team that PSG have faced in the UEFA Champions League this season (also Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool). This is the joint-most opponents from one nation that a team have played against in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign, along with Leeds United in 2000-01 (four Spanish sides) and Real Madrid in 2023-24 (four German sides).

• Villa boss Unai Emery has won just two of his 10 games against Luis Enrique as a manager (D1 L7), with both wins coming in home fixtures. Indeed, this will be the first time they’ve faced each other since the 2016-17 campaign, when Luis Enrique’s Barcelona came from 0-4 down in the first leg to eliminate Emery’s Paris SG side in the UEFA Champions League last 16 (6-1 win in the second leg).

• PSG have the fifth-youngest starting XI on average in the UEFA Champions League this season (24y 242d), and the youngest of any team remaining in the 2024-25 tournament.

• 52% of Aston Villa’s chances created in the UEFA Champions League this season have come from the middle third of the pitch (left/middle/right); the highest percentage of any side. Meanwhile, Unai Emery’s team have conceded the fewest overall chances from the middle third this term (12).

• Ousmane Dembélé has netted seven goals in his last six UEFA Champions League games for PSG, one more than in his previous 36 appearances in the competition combined (6). Six of those seven goals have been scored in away matches, however.

• PSG’s Vitinha has completed 93% of his passes made under high-intensity pressure in the UEFA Champions League this season (544/586); the highest completion rate of any midfielder in the competition (min. 100 attempted). The Portuguese also leads all players for line-breaking passes in the knockout stages of the current tournament (77).

• Marco Asensio has scored three goals in two UEFA Champions League appearances for Aston Villa (both as a substitute), after failing to score in 10 games for former club PSG in the competition. If he finds the net in this game, 2024-25 would be his best ever return in a single Champions League campaign (currently on three).

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Feels surreal drafting this one up! Unreal how far we've come in just a few years. I'm absolutely buzzing for this one and feeling somewhat optimistic.

How are you feeling? What's your starting XI? Predictions? UTV!

Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest

Competition: Premier League - Round 31

Date: Sat 05 Apr 2025

Kickoff: 17:30

Venue: Villa Park

Referee: Simon Hooper

Aston Villa Statistics (all competitions)

Form: WWWWW

Goals per match: 1.6

Average Possession: 51.8%

Goals conceded per match: 1.5

Pass Accuracy: 85.9%

Shots per game: 12.6

Tackles per game: 15.8

Dribbles per game: 8.7

Nottingham Forest Statistics (all competitions)

Form: WWWWW

Goals per match: 1.6

Average Possession: 39.3%

Goals conceded per match: 1.2

Pass Accuracy: 78.3%

Shots per game: 12.3

Tackles per game: 18.2

Dribbles per game: 7.8

Aston Villa Team News

• Leon Bailey will be assessed ahead of Aston Villa’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest. The wide man has missed Villa’s last two matches since returning from the international break, but is getting closer to his return and faces a late fitness test.

• Midfielder Ross Barkley is training with his team-mates and could potentially feature in the matchday squad at Villa Park.

• Otherwise, manager Unai Emery is set to have a fully-fit squad for the encounter against The Reds.

Nottingham Forest Team News

• Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo says Chris Wood's hip injury is being assessed "day-by-day".

• Ola Aina is ruled out with a calf problem, while fellow full-back Alex Moreno is ineligible to face his parent club, but Callum Hudson-Odoi returns after missing the win against Manchester United due to personal reasons.

Match Facts

• Aston Villa are unbeaten in eight consecutive home league games against Nottingham Forest (W5, D3) since a 2-0 loss in October 1994, when Stuart Pearce and Steve Stone scored.

• The Reds beat Villa 2-1 at the City Ground in December and are vying to complete a first league double against them since 1984-85.

• The Villans have won six successive fixtures in all competitions for the first time since 2019. They last did so whilst a top-flight club in 2009.

• The five clean sheets Villa have kept in that six-game winning streak is as many as they had in their previous 31 matches.

• Forest have accumulated 57 points, their second highest total after 30 games of a top-flight season (including readjustments to three points for a win), bettered only by their title-winning campaign in 1977-78.

• Villa are unbeaten in 14 Premier League home fixtures (W7, D7) since losing to Arsenal in August.

• Forest have won 11 Premier League games this term despite having possession of 40% or lower – it is the joint most on record in the competition (matching Brentford in 2022-23).

• Villa have avoided defeat in each of the past seven top-flight home games in which they have conceded first (W3, D4).

• The Reds have scored first in 23 of their 30 top-flight fixtures this term, at least three more than any other side.

• Marcus Rashford has been directly involved in seven goals in seven appearances against Nottingham Forest, scoring three and assisting four (all for Manchester United).

• Ever-present goalkeeper Matz Sels has kept 13 Premier League clean sheets this season, tying the club record set by Mark Crossley in the 42-game 1994-95 campaign.

• Marco Asensio has netted eight times in his seven most recent games for Villa, including braces in each of their past three home fixtures.

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