Nottingham Forest have their biggest game of the century on Thursday evening.
Nottingham Forest have the chance to reach a European final for the first time since 1980, which was under the great Brian Clough.
Standing in their way is an Aston Villa side who were really poor last time out against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
You can only pick one: Vitor Pereira or Nuno Espirito Santo!
Let us know in the comments!
Villa suffered a 2-0 defeat to the relegation candidates and of course, prior to that, Forest beat them 1-0 at the City Ground.
So, Vitor Pereira’s men head into the Europa League semi-final second leg with a narrow 1-0 aggregate lead.
That said, Unai Emery has just been speaking to the media, and he’s given his verdict on who the favourites are to advance to the final tomorrow night.
- READ MORE: Vitor Pereira has played a Nottingham Forest blinder to leave West Ham and Nuno on the brink
Unai Emery says Nottingham Forest are the favourites
Emery sat down for his pre-match Nottingham Forest press conference on Wednesday afternoon, and interestingly, he said the Tricky Trees are the favourites.
“Tomorrow, this match is special,” the Villa boss stated.
“It’s different. We are playing in Villa Park. They have the advantage. For this reason for me they are the favourites. Tomorrow we have a huge opportunity to enjoy momentum, to enjoy competing.”
Two talented Brazilian defenders at Nottingham Forest but do you agree with this sentiment?
Emery added: “When I spoke before the first leg, we had 25% of the possibility to win a trophy. Now it’s maybe less because we started losing. We have 50% or maybe less to play the final. This is football and you must respect every competition and in Europe you must respect each team.”
Of course, the Spaniard is probably trying to shift the pressure onto Forest and create a bit of an underdog feeling for his side.
Pereira will be under no illusions that his side will have to be on their A-game to advance past the fifth-best team in the Premier League.
Villa haven’t suddenly become a bad team overnight, they’re full of quality all over the pitch and can really hurt Forest in a number of areas.
The East Midlanders suffered a 3-1 defeat at Villa Park in the league earlier this year.
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