Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest Bet Builder Tips, Preview

Marcus Rashford has quickly endeared himself to the Villa Park faithful, and with three goals in his last 2 games for Aston Villa, he looks to only be getting better with every game for the Villans. The 27-year-old forward has played across the front line under Unai Emery, but has consistently performed no matter where he has been played.

He is averaging 0.67 shots on target per 90 in the Premier League, but the majority of his starts have not come in the league, skewing these figures slightly. When looking at his games in all competitions, Rashford has hit the target 1.64 times per 90 for Aston Villa since his January switch.

With a shot on target in 5 straight starts for the club, this looks like an excellent price to back Rashford to do so again. In hot goalscoring form, he is expected to get the nod from Emery, and recent form suggests that when Rashford starts, he hits the target, whether deployed as a winger or as a central striker.

Youri Tielemans offers an appealing price to commit a single foul in Aston Villa’s Saturday evening clash with Nottingham Forest. The Champions League quarter-finalists will face a tough test against the side aspiring to reach the Champions League, and the midfield battle is set to be crucial.

Tielemans averages 1.30 fouls per 90 in the Premier League this season, and comes into this game having committed at least one foul in 12 of his last 13 Premier League games for the Villans. His average sitting just above one foul per 90 is reflective of Tielemans rarely fouling more than once in a game, which is why we are backing him for just a single foul.

The Belgium international has started all 30 league games for the club this season, and has fouled in 23 of those 30. He will be up against Forest’s Ryan Yates and Morgan Gibbs-White, who draw 2.47 fouls per 90 and 1.32 fouls per 90 respectively, the most and fifth-most fouls of any regular starters for the club in the Premier League this season.

We’re also backing a couple of players to win fouls here, and the first of these is Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers. The forward came off towards the end of Villa’s 3-0 win over Brighton, although it is believed to be a minor knock, so he should be fit to start again here.

Rogers is winning an average of 1.45 fouls per 90 in the Premier League this season and has been consistently able to win fouls in nearly every league game he has played. The quick-footed 22-year-old’s ball retention is key to the way Villa play, and his ability to protect the ball when challenged has seen him fouled in 7 of his last 8 Premier League games, including twice or more in 3 of his last 4.

Across the season as a whole, Rogers has won fouls in 24 of his 29 league starts for the Villans, a record that includes the 4 fouls he drew when these two sides met at the City Ground in December. He will likely be up against Forest’s Alex Moreno and Elliot Anderson, who commit 1.15 and 1.50 fouls per 90 respectively.

The second player we’re backing to win a foul is Nottingham Forest’s electric winger Anthony Elanga. Fresh from scoring the only goal of the game against his former side Man United, Elanga will be key to Forest’s attacking plans in the absence of 18-goal striker Chris Wood.

The Swedish international has won 1.50 fouls per 90 in the Premier League this season, with only Ryan Yates (2.47) and Elliot Anderson (1.94) winning more as regular starters for the Tricky Trees. The 22-year-old won two fouls in midweek, taking him to 5 fouls drawn in his last 3 league starts.

Elanga has now won fouls in 7 of his last 8 Premier League games, and in 10 of his last 12 league starts. He will be up against Aston Villa full-back Lucas Digne, who is always keen to get forward, which could prove problematic against a player as fast and direct as Elanga. Digne commits 0.75 fouls per 90 in the Premier League this season.