There will be an air of positivity at the City Ground after Cooper renewed his contract, but that will not necessarily act as the catalyst for improved performances on the pitch. Villa and Gerrard also need a result in the East Midlands, leading us to predict a competitive low-scoring draw being played out between two struggling sides.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Aston Villa win with a probability of 44.41%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 30.14% and a draw had a probability of 25.4%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aston Villa win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.1%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.1%) and 0-2 (7.61%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 1-0 (8.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.07%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
1.63) 
-1.8) 
