In-form Aston Villa welcome Nottingham Forest to Villa Park on Saturday in a match which could have major implications at both ends of the table.
A fine run of form has seen Unai Emery's men make a late surge for the European places, with only six points separating them from fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur heading into the weekend.
Villa have won five and lost none of their last six outings, and they will be firm favourites to improve that record further against a team only sitting outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
Steve Cooper's men have taken just three points from an eight-match winless run which stretches back more than two months, leaving them as one of four teams level on 27 points.
The statistics suggest that Saturday's contest will see any early goal, with each of the last six meetings between the two teams having involved at least one goal in the opening 20 minutes.
Eleven of the 23 goals in total from those six meetings have come in the opening 20 minutes, with 15 before half time including both goals in the reverse 1-1 draw at the City Ground earlier this season.
Aston Villa's equaliser in that match came after 22 minutes, but they have scored a league-high nine times in the opening 15 minutes of home matches this season, accounting for 39% of their total home goals - also a league-leading figure.
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Indeed, Emery's men have opened the scoring inside the opening 15 minutes in four of their last five home games.
The stats also point to an Aston Villa win, which would remarkably be the first time since October 2007 that they have won three home Premier League games on the bounce inside a single season.
The hosts have only lost one of their last 14 league games against Forest and are unbeaten in their last six at Villa Park, although the most recent of those was a 5-5 thriller in the Championship in November 2018.
Forest's last win at Villa Park was also their only Premier League triumph from 11 attempts in this fixture, picking up a 2-0 win in October 1994.
Not since August 1996 have Forest won a Premier League away game against a fellow Midlands outfit, losing each of their last six such games and failing to even score in the last five.
Emery, meanwhile, is yet to lose a Premier League home game against a promoted team from five such matches, winning the last four in a row.
Forest have also fared poorly in Saturday 3pm kickoffs this season, winning only two of their 13 such games for a league-low win percentage of 15%.
Barney Corkhill
