Reds 'will go on attack' in first leg against Villa
· Yahoo Sports
After moving one step closer to securing Premier League safety with a 5-0 win over Sunderland, Nottingham Forest can probably afford to start putting their European ambitions first now.
When the two-time European champions come up against Aston Villa, who also have one European Cup to their name, in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday night, one thing's for sure: both teams will want to take an early advantage.
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Vitor Pereira's decision to field a slightly strengthened side for the club's quarter-final second leg win over Porto paid dividends, so we can except him to follow suit in what will be an even bigger tie against Premier League opposition.
But will the Reds opt to sit in or go on the attack in their home leg at the City Ground?
Well, the statistics can probably answer that one.
Forest have accumulated the best xG (27.8) in the Europa League this season, having taken 414 touches in the opposition box across their 14 fixtures in the competition, with 23 of their 88 shots on target finding the back of the net.
Only Serie A side Bologna, who were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Villa, beat the Reds in each of those three categories.
Morgan Gibbs-White will be one to watch in attack, having scored a staggering five times since the club's last Europa League outing on 16 April.
If you're looking for an outside shout though, Callum Hudson-Odoi is your man.
The 25-year-old winger has created 23 chances in the Europa League this season, with only three other players carving out more opportunities for their team-mates.
In addition, only three Englishmen have created more chances in a single season since records began in 2009-10: James Milner (31) and Adam Lallana (24) for Liverpool in 2015-16 and James Ward-Prowse (25) for West Ham United in 2023-24.