Ollie Watkins shines on 250th Aston Villa appearance: Key stats
What's the story
Aston Villa's England striker Ollie Watkins scored a stunning long-range goal in his 250th appearance for the club. The Premier League match against Nottingham Forest ended with a score of 3-1, marking Villa's 11th consecutive home win. This is their best run in over three decades and comes as a perfect response to their recent loss at Arsenal. Despite Morgan Gibbs-White pulling one back for Forest, John McGinn scored twice to secure the victory for Aston Villa.
Form revival
Watkins's goal marks a turnaround in form
Watkins had a rough start to the season, scoring just once in his first 19 appearances. However, he has turned things around with six goals in his last eight games. The striker's partnership with Morgan Rogers was also on display against Forest, with Rogers assisting Watkins for his first-half goal. The duo has now combined for 10 Premier League goals since last season, more than any other pair.
League standing
Aston Villa's impressive league position
Aston Villa's victory over Nottingham Forest has pushed them up to second place in the Premier League, 12 points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea. After 20 matches this season, Villa own 42 points and are three behind league leaders Arsenal, who have a game in hand. Villa are a point above Manchester City at the moment.
Struggling form
Nottingham Forest's struggles continue
Nottingham Forest, on the other hand, is having a tough time in the league. The loss to Aston Villa was their fourth consecutive defeat in the Premier League and has left them in a precarious position. Manager Sean Dyche's men are now just four points above the relegation zone and will face third-bottom West Ham next. Forest are 17th with 18 points on board from 20 matches.
Information
Watkins races to 94 goals for Aston Villa
From 250 matches for Villa, Watkins now has scored 94 goals in all competitions. 82 of his goals have come in the Premier League from 204 appearances. In the 2025-26 season, Watkins has bagged 7 goals in 27 appearances. All of his goals have come in the Premier League.
Records
Key records made by Tielemans and McGinn
Youri Tielemans helped Villa with the 3rd goal, making an assist for McGinn. As per Opta, he made 32 line-breaking passes against Nottingham Forest; the most by any player in a Premier League match in 2025-26. McGinn managed a Premier League brace for the very first time. It was just his second brace in 311 appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa (the other also vs Nottingham Forest, in March 2019). McGinn now has 20 Premier League goals from 223 appearances.
Match stats
A look at the match stats
Villa had 73.1% ball possession and an xG of 1.64. From 11 attempts, they managed 4 shots on target. Forest had 5 shots on target from 10 attempts and their xG was 0.89. Both sides created two big chances each. In terms of touches in the opposition box, Villa outfoxed Forest 45-11.