Aston Villa v Forest team news: Aina starts, Cash returns

Price Change Predictions

	Player	Club	Factors
Up	Gabriel Magalhães	ARS	A, Vs
No Change	Keane	EVE	B, Vs, Inj
Up	Mukiele	SUN	A, £
Up	van Hecke	BHA	C, Vs
Up	Cash	AVL	C, Vs
Up	Thiaw	NEW	C, Vs
No Change	Marc Guehi	CRY	C
Down	van Dijk	LIV	B
Down	O’Reilly	MCI	C
Down	Andersen	FUL	B

Risers

Fallers

Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Thiago	BRE	6.9m	136.1%	Very Likely
Matheus N.	MCI	5.4m	103.7%	Very Likely
Tarkowski	EVE	5.6m	89.8%	Likely
Gordon	NEW	7.4m	99.5%	Likely
Gabriel	ARS	6.6m	69.6%	Unlikely
Ødegaard	ARS	7.8m	85.2%	Unlikely
Van de Ven	TOT	4.5m	74.7%	Unlikely
Dorgu	MUN	4.2m	83.6%	Unlikely
L.Paquetá	WHU	5.9m	87.6%	Unlikely
Saliba	ARS	5.9m	83.0%	Unlikely
Cherki	MCI	6.8m	62.6%	Unlikely
Collins	BRE	4.9m	57.0%	Unlikely
Palmer	CHE	10.4m	65.7%	Unlikely
Dalot	MUN	4.5m	66.9%	Unlikely
Truffert	BOU	4.5m	61.2%	Unlikely
Dúbravka	BUR	4.0m	59.5%	Unlikely
Bruno G.	NEW	7.1m	33.8%	Unlikely
Calvert-Lewin	LEE	5.9m	46.6%	Unlikely
Mitchell	CRY	5.0m	54.4%	Unlikely
Mukiele	SUN	4.3m	42.4%	Unlikely
E.Le Fée	SUN	4.9m	52.2%	Unlikely
Garner	EVE	5.1m	42.8%	Unlikely
Igor Jesus	NFO	5.8m	48.6%	Unlikely
Frimpong	LIV	5.7m	47.8%	Unlikely
Gravenberch	LIV	5.7m	55.9%	Unlikely
Kelleher	BRE	4.5m	38.8%	Unlikely
Xhaka	SUN	5.2m	43.0%	Unlikely
Konaté	LIV	5.4m	45.0%	Unlikely
De Cuyper	BHA	4.3m	41.6%	Unlikely
Tete	FUL	4.5m	41.9%	Unlikely
A.Becker	LIV	5.4m	40.3%	Unlikely
Tielemans	AVL	5.9m	35.1%	Unlikely
Smith Rowe	FUL	5.6m	36.8%	Unlikely
Wissa	NEW	7.3m	29.5%	Unlikely
Casemiro	MUN	5.5m	34.6%	Unlikely
Wharton	CRY	5.0m	35.6%	Unlikely
Kayode	BRE	4.5m	34.8%	Unlikely
Martinez	MUN	4.8m	33.8%	Unlikely
Van den Berg	BRE	4.5m	34.1%	Unlikely
Lewis-Potter	BRE	4.9m	33.5%	Unlikely

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Player	Team	Price	Progress	Tonight
Hincapie	ARS	5.4m	109.6%	Very Likely
Foden	MCI	8.9m	92.3%	Likely
Barnes	NEW	6.1m	95.5%	Likely
Wan-Bissaka	WHU	4.2m	100.4%	Very Likely
Jair Cunha	NFO	4.3m	96.8%	Likely
Baleba	BHA	4.6m	97.2%	Maybe
Anderson	SUN	3.9m	97.2%	Maybe
Ekitiké	LIV	9.1m	82.2%	Maybe
Broggio	AVL	4.5m	96.9%	Maybe
Bergvall	TOT	5.3m	98.1%	Maybe
Amad	MUN	6.3m	95.9%	Maybe
Colwill	CHE	4.8m	96.9%	Maybe
Fitzgerald	MUN	4.4m	94.3%	Maybe
Bayindir	MUN	4.8m	93.9%	Maybe
Adams	BOU	5.0m	94.2%	Unlikely
Gyökeres	ARS	8.8m	90.8%	Unlikely
Sarr	CRY	6.4m	90.6%	Unlikely
L.Guilherme	WHU	4.9m	91.1%	Unlikely
Bellegarde	WOL	5.2m	91.8%	Unlikely
Robertson	LIV	5.8m	89.0%	Unlikely
Fer López	WOL	5.2m	89.5%	Unlikely
Sousa	AVL	3.9m	87.1%	Unlikely
Tosin	CHE	4.1m	86.0%	Unlikely
Bettinelli	MCI	3.9m	87.2%	Unlikely
R.Gomes	WOL	4.4m	87.0%	Unlikely
Tavernier	BOU	5.6m	78.0%	Unlikely
Benitez	CRY	4.0m	85.2%	Unlikely
Fraser	WOL	4.3m	82.1%	Unlikely
Sangaré	NFO	4.9m	82.4%	Unlikely
G.Rodriguez	WHU	4.8m	79.5%	Unlikely
Lewis	MCI	4.7m	81.8%	Unlikely
Abdullahi	SUN	4.3m	80.0%	Unlikely
Eze	ARS	7.4m	64.0%	Unlikely
Aké	MCI	5.3m	84.5%	Unlikely
Dewsbury-Hall	EVE	5.0m	71.5%	Unlikely
Raya	ARS	6.0m	68.6%	Unlikely
Cucurella	CHE	6.1m	65.3%	Unlikely
João Pedro	CHE	7.2m	75.9%	Unlikely
Mbeumo	MUN	8.1m	76.0%	Unlikely
Gusto	CHE	5.0m	77.0%	Unlikely

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FPL Fixture Ticker

Watchlists

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Raya Martin	ARS	C, Vs
No Change	Pickford	EVE	B, Vs
Up	Verbruggen	BHA	C, Vs
Up	Martinez	AVL	C, Vs
No Change	Kelleher	BRE	A
No Change	Dubravka	BUR	B, £

Last updated: 3 Jan, 2026 9:39am

	Player	Club	Factors
Up	Gabriel Magalhães	ARS	A, Vs
No Change	Keane	EVE	B, Vs, Inj
Up	Mukiele	SUN	A, £
Up	van Hecke	BHA	C, Vs
Up	Cash	AVL	C, Vs
Up	Thiaw	NEW	C, Vs
No Change	Marc Guehi	CRY	C
Down	van Dijk	LIV	B
Down	O’Reilly	MCI	C
Down	Andersen	FUL	B

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Saka	ARS	A, Vs
No Change	Foden	MCI	B
No Change	Matheus Cunha	MUN	B
Up	Rogers	AVL	A, Vs
Up	Bruno Guimarães	NEW	B, Vs
Down	Semenyo	BOU	A
Down	Wirtz	LIV	A
No Change	Grealish	EVE	C, Vs
No Change	Schade	BRE	A
No Change	Minteh	BHA	C, Vs, Inj
No Change	Anderson	NFO	C, £

Last updated: 3 Jan, 2026 9:31am

	Player	Club	Factors
No Change	Haaland	MCI	A
No Change	Ekitiké	LIV	A
No Change	Bowen	WHU	B, Vs
Up	Watkins	AVL	A, Vs
Up	Calvert-Lewin	LEE	A
Down	Thiago	BRE	C

Last updated: 3 Jan, 2026 9:38am

A quieter-than-usual afternoon of Premier League football sees only four matches take place, starting with Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest.

Kick-off at Villa Park is at 12.30pm GMT.

READ MORE: AFCON 2025: When will Premier League players return?
READ MORE: FPL Challenge best picks + team reveal – Gameweek 20
READ MORE: AFCON Fantasy Gameweek 4: Team Reveals

TEAM NEWS

As expected, Villa bring back Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara after suspension.

John McGinn and Ian Maatsen also return after midweek breathers.

Lamare Bogarde, Lucas Digne and Jadon Sancho drop to the bench, while Amadou Onana sits this one out with the injury he sustained in Gameweek 19.

For the first time since August, Forest can count on Ola Aina.

There’s no messing about with gradual reintegrations and cameos off the bench: he’s straight into the starting XI.

Oleksandr Zinchenko makes way.

Meanwhile, Dilane Bakwa is in for the unexpectedly absent Callum Hudson-Odoi.

£4.0m Fantasy Premier League (FPL) goalkeeper John Victor keeps his place between the posts ahead of Matz Sels.

LINE-UPS

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.

Subs: Bizot, Carroll, Garcia, Digne, Malen, Hemmings, Bogarde, Jimoh-Aloba, Sancho.

Nottingham Forest XI: John, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Bakwa, Hutchinson, I Jesus.

Subs: Sels, Morato, Awoniyi, Douglas Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Zinchenko, Savona, Abbott.

GC123

1 day, 20 hours ago

Was behind the sofa for the Villa game fearing the worst after not pulling the trigger on Cunha > Rogers but I’ll take that as a moral victory with Villa’s main man only recording an assist

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NABIL - FPL otai
1 day, 20 hours ago
Ah my sofa mate. Same here didn't pull the trigger and kept Rice, Cunha Foden.

Time for a drink. It's on me
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1. GC123
  1 day, 20 hours ago
  Honestly mate, there’s not been much to toast in the last few GW’s so I’ll take that one for the win. I’ve got Cunha, Foden, Cherki and Gordon so hoping for some attacking returns. Good luck pal
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Bigbars

Anyone stuck in no mans land in terms of accrued value in players ? Makes me reluctant to part with some players even temporarily, perfect example is foden and thiago, theyve risen so much since ive got them, i would have to get someone of less value to even benefit from their sale moneywise.

Sandy Ravage
1 day, 20 hours ago
Form over price
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1. Bigbars
  1 day, 20 hours ago
  That's the problem... Thiago's form is terrible of late, but he's risen in price so much I dont know what to do with him, ditch, bench or play and keep praying he may actually return something.
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