Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa: How to watch, date, time, live stream, TV channel

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa will begin their battle for a place in the Europa League final on Thursday, when they meet at the City Ground in a semi-final first leg.

The two sides have met twice in the Premier League this term, with Aston Villa winning 3-1 at home and managing a 1-1 draw in their last trip to Nottingham, and they will now fight to gain an edge and move a step closer to the trophy.

Here, Sports Mole provides everything you need to know about how to tune into the match between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.

What time does Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa kick off?

The match will kick off at 8:00pm on Thursday evening in the UK.

The first leg comes two weeks after the two sides booked their places in the last four in their respective quarter-final second legs.

Where is Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa being played?

Thursday's first leg will take place at the City Ground, with the visitors only faced with a short trip.

Nottingham Forest won three and lost one of their four home games in the Europa League league phase, while they managed a decisive 1-0 victory at home to Porto last time out to seal a 2-1 aggregate quarter-final win.

How to watch Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa in the UK

TV channels

Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.

Online streaming

There will also be the option to stream the match live in the UK via HBO Max if you have a TNT Sports subscription.

HBO Max with TNT Sports is also available via Amazon Prime Video.

Highlights

Highlights will be available to watch on the TNT Sports YouTube channel and the official channels of both clubs after the game.

TNT Sports will also post clips of key moments on their social media channels while the game is being played.

What is at stake for Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa?

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa will both compete to gain the edge and move within touching distance of a Europa League final in Istanbul.

Both sides have tasted glory on the continental stage, with the hosts winning back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980 while the visitors picked up Europe's premier trophy two years later.

Nottingham Forest reached the final four with knockout wins over Fenerbahce, Midtjylland and Porto, while they have taken major steps towards guaranteeing their Premier League status for next term in recent weeks.

Vitor Pereira's side have gone six games unbeaten in England's top flight to move five points above the drop zone with just four games remaining, most recently making it back-to-back wins by thrashing Sunderland 5-0 away from home last Friday.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, followed up a near-perfect league phase by cruising past Lille in the round of 16 and thrashing Bologna 7-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, culminating in a 4-0 home win in mid-April.

On the domestic front, Unai Emery's side find themselves in a battle for a top-four finish with their sights set on next year's Champions League, currently trailing fourth-placed Liverpool on goal difference after a defeat to Fulham last weekend.

Whoever progresses to the final will bid to make it back-to-back English winners of the Europa League after Tottenham Hotspur's glory last season.