Where to Watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest May 2026 – The intense Europa League semifinal continues as Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest in the second leg at Villa Park.

This match is guaranteed to be highly competitive because both teams still have a strong opportunity to qualify for the European final this season.

This match is scheduled to take place at Villa Park Stadium on Thursday, 07 May 2026 at 20.00 PM local time.

Forest hold a narrow advantage after last week's first leg, but Villa possess a highly impressive home record in European competitions; whoever wins on aggregate will advance to the final and face Braga or Freiburg in Istanbul later this month.

For those who do not want to miss the excitement of this match, let us examine Mansion Sports' recommendations for where to watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest in May 2026.

Team Conditions Ahead of the Match

Aston Villa

After reaching the Conference League semifinal in 2024 and the Champions League quarterfinal last season, Aston Villa are now determined to go even further and reach their first European final in a generation.

Several decades have passed since Villa defeated Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final, and that wait will continue if they fail to overturn the 1-0 deficit on Thursday.

Last week, Nottingham Forest secured a narrow advantage in the Midlands derby after Chris Wood confidently converted a second-half penalty following a clear handball by Lucas Digne inside the penalty area.

Then, in an effort to rest several key players and rotate between two major European fixtures, Unai Emery watched his second-string side lose at home to Tottenham Hotspur, who are currently threatened by relegation.

His team appeared lacking in attacking sharpness and managed only one touch inside the Spurs penalty area before halftime, while showing little improvement after the break, eventually suffering a disappointing 2-1 defeat — their fifth loss in eight Premier League matches.

Although The Villans have now suffered three consecutive defeats for the first time since 2024, they remain in fifth place in the standings and their chances of qualifying for the Champions League are still open.

Now, they must shift their focus toward completing a comeback in the second leg, especially after performing very well throughout their Europa League journey; Emery’s side finished second in the league phase before comfortably eliminating Lille and Bologna.

Positive signs also favor Villa: the Birmingham club have won their last nine European home matches at Villa Park — while also scoring in 31 of their last 32 matches — and their Basque coach is widely recognized for his vast experience at this level.

As a coach who has already won the Europa League four times, Emery last lost a two-legged tie in UEFA’s secondary competition approximately 14 years ago, and since then has progressed through 22 consecutive ties.

In addition, Villa are unbeaten in 10 home matches against Forest since 1994 — including their Premier League meeting last January — meaning history suggests they are still highly capable of mounting a comeback.

Regarding the Villa squad condition, all of Aston Villa’s main players are expected to return to action — especially after the reserve players delivered disappointing performances against Spurs — with Ollie Watkins becoming the primary name on that list.

Villa captain John McGinn missed Sunday’s defeat due to a minor muscle issue, but he is expected to return to the home squad on Thursday.

However, Amadou Onana is still recovering from a calf injury, Ross Barkley is ineligible to play, and Boubacar Kamara remains injured.

While Watkins is Villa’s top scorer in this season’s Europa League with four goals, Morgan Rogers has already been directly involved in five goals from six home appearances so far.

Nottingham Forest

However, many things have changed since that 3-1 league defeat, particularly following the arrival of Vitor Pereira in February, which sparked an unexpected revival.

The Portuguese coach was initially questioned by supporters, but his methods have gradually begun to produce results and Forest are currently enjoying exceptional form.

Their 10-match unbeaten run has not only distanced them from the relegation zone, but also brought them extremely close to a European final.

Their best unbeaten sequence in the past decade includes seven victories and numerous goals, including Forest scoring three goals against Chelsea on Monday to move six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Although Pereira also rested several star players, Taiwo Awoniyi successfully scored both before and after Igor Jesus converted a penalty, further increasing their chances of remaining in the top flight.

Now, the East Midlands club will attempt to complete the task they started last Thursday and progress from their first European semifinal in 42 years.

Pereira previously also guided Forest past his former club Fenerbahce, as well as Midtjylland and Porto, to reach the semifinal stage, while simultaneously reviving the club’s fading European tradition.

The Tricky Trees even possess two European Cup titles, more than Villa’s single title, while they have lost only once in 13 knockout ties after winning the first leg — and that occurred during the 1984 UEFA Cup semifinal against Anderlecht.

Regarding the away squad condition, Nottingham Forest’s Igor Jesus is the player with the highest away goal involvement in this competition with a total of five contributions; he has also recorded the highest number of shots overall (34) and the highest number of shots on target (16).

The Brazilian striker partnered Awoniyi against Chelsea, but the latter is not included in Forest’s UEFA squad list, meaning Chris Wood will lead their attack in Birmingham.

Pereira made eight lineup changes on Monday, with Luca Netz making his first league start alongside several other reserve players, but the brief appearance of star player Morgan Gibbs-White could present a separate concern.

Although the England international avoided a concussion, he suffered a fairly deep wound after colliding with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

Forest had already lost Ola Aina, Ibrahim Sangare, and Murillo previously; Dan Ndoye remains doubtful, while Nicolo Savona, Callum Hudson-Odoi, John Victor, and Willy Boly are confirmed unavailable.

Where to Watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest May 2026

For those who want to watch and are still searching for Where to Watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest May 2026, depending on your country of residence, this match can be watched through several official platforms such as:

• TNT Sports
• DAZN
• Paramount+
• beIN Sports
• VTVCab
• SPOTV

This match is predicted to be extremely entertaining because Aston Villa must play aggressively to overturn the aggregate deficit, while Nottingham Forest arrive with high confidence after the positive result in the first leg.

With the atmosphere of Villa Park being famously intimidating in European competitions, this match deserves to be included on the mandatory watch list for football fans.