Nottinghamshire

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Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira has a big decision to make before his side's Europa League quarter-final second leg against Porto on Thursday (20:00 BST).

Pereira made nine changes to his starting XI for the first leg and a much-altered team earned a 1-1 draw in Portugal.

Only Murillo and Morgan Gibbs-White kept their places for Sunday's Premier League draw with Aston Villa, which moved Forest three points clear of the relegation zone.

The Reds are back on home turf at the City Ground on Thursday, so should Pereira rotate again with the Premier League survival battle in mind, or go all out in the hope of reaching a European semi-final?

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Pat Riddell
Fan writer

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The irony of the Premier League's top clubs faltering at this stage of the season is that Nottingham Forest should have been the ones to take advantage.

After 32 games last season, the Reds were in third place with 57 points. The same points at this stage would have them in third place, two above Manchester United and Aston Villa.

If strengthening the squad last summer could have kept us on the same trajectory, then the depth and quality would have kept us in the race for the Champions League - now confirmed as five places again for the Premier League for next season.

That points tally would put us nine clear of sixth-placed Chelsea and, feasibly, last season's total of 65 points would probably be enough for a place in Europe's top competition.

As it is, football - as Liverpool, and possibly Arsenal, fans will confirm - doesn't always follow logic. And the season we have is the season we have.

Except the opportunity to write our own history, as it was back in August, is still ours to own. Vitor Pereira's steady hand took us closer to a Europa League semi-final last Thursday and Sunday's draw with Aston Villa was a warm-up against our possible opponents should we beat Porto on Thursday.

Pereira is notably the first of our four managers this season to successfully shuffle the squad in a cup game and not be embarrassed.

While hindsight is a wonderful thing, conjecture is also dangerous and each game as it comes is the sensible way to proceed. But if you can't dream in football, what can you do?

Forest's season can still go several ways but the redemption arc is one in which our failings in the Premier League could be redeemed by Europa League glory.

A place in the Champions League and Premier League status retained? The dream remains alive.

Find more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club, external

Ciaran Kelly
Newcastle United reporter

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Some of you have been using our Newcastle Ask Me Anything form to query if there's a sell-on clause for Elliot Anderson.

As far as I'm aware Newcastle would not stand to benefit financially if Anderson left Nottingham Forest.

The club do not have a buy-back option, either.

Ordinarily these clauses would be negotiated during the sale of promising young players, as sides like Manchester City and Chelsea have over the years.

But Newcastle had no bargaining position whatsoever when they sold Anderson to Nottingham Forest in 2024.

The club were desperately attempting to raise funds to avoid a breach of profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and a likely points deduction.

Anderson's subsequent journey to becoming an England starter has been bittersweet for Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe.

Although Anderson has felt the clear benefit of increased game time at Nottingham Forest, Newcastle's backroom staff always believed he was destined for the very top and hoped he could realise his vast potential while playing for his boyhood club.

The midfielder still has huge admirers at all levels at St James' Park, including sporting director Ross Wilson, who helped bring him to Nottingham Forest during his time at the City Ground.

But Anderson appears destined to move elsewhere rather than return to Tyneside.

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We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

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Adwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist

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Getting 36 points on the board should offer a huge psychological boost for Leeds.

Teams finishing on 36 or more points in each of the past nine Premier League seasons have avoided relegation.

In the 20-team Premier League era, starting from the 1995-96 season, the average number of points earned by the team finishing 18th is 35.53.

In those 30 seasons of 38 games, 36 points has ensured survival 60% of the time.

The rate of survival increases to 80% for 38 points, 90% for 40 points and 100% for 43 or more points.

So does that mean Leeds have virtually guaranteed survival this season?

Not really.

That is because this season is on track to be the toughest to survive for a decade.

According to Opta's supercomputer, Tottenham are now favourites to go down at 48.7%. But Spurs, sitting 18th, are on 30 points and projected to finish on 37 by Opta - meaning 38 points would be needed for survival.

West Ham, currently 17th, hold the record for the team relegated with the most points in the 20-team era - in 2002-03 when they picked up 42 points but still went down.

"The reality is that performance-wise we should already [have] far more than 40 points," Daniel Farke said.

"This team has performed over the whole season with unbelievable consistency.

"But we are on 36 points, a few more points are needed. For now, three points closer but nothing is achieved yet."

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.

Here are some of your comments:

Nottingham Forest fans

John: A crucial point against a tough opponent. Might be the difference for staying up. Moments of good play and some not so much but it's about building points at this stage of season.

Peter: I think most Forest supporters would have taken a point against Villa before kick off. We are definitely playing better and Neco is outstanding. Hopefully Chris Wood will also find the back of the net in the next few games. My concern is - will this point be enough to stay up at the end of the season?

Kris: Bit of a stalemate, but we got away with one today. Villa missed a couple of absolute sitters, whereas we looked blunt in the final third. A point against a team challenging at the other end of the table can't be sniffed at and we're slowly pulling away.

Luke: We certainly rode our luck, but it's a hard fought and very important point. Over the course of the season this is the kind of game we would lose in heart-breaking fashion - so there are encouraging signs. Certainly not out of the woods at this point but the season could still turn out to be incredible.

Aston Villa fans

Ian: A game we should have won with two or three golden chances in the second half. Some credit to Forest though in fighting for their Premier League survival. Solid performance without hitting our best but we need to be more clinical. Let's hope it doesn't come back to haunt us.

Dean: Praise has gone to Rogers' head. He's gone from excellent to average over the last few months - giving the ball away far too much and seems generally off it.

Robbie: Villa didn't seem up for the game as much as Forest did. Morgan Rogers has not been himself for a while now, every time he got the ball he either lost it or passed it to the opposition. He's gone off the boil and needs to improve more for the trip to the World Cup, if selected.

Michael: Mixed. Technically better than Forest but gave the ball away far too often in dangerous areas - Rogers guilty on several occasions including equaliser. Equally profligate at the other end - Watkins, Rogers missing gilt-edged chances. Emery fuming in technical area! Must do better.

One simple question and an answer with ugly consequences.

Hit play below and watch Match of the Day 2 in full here

Listen to Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira speak to BBC Radio Nottingham's Colin Fray following the draw with Aston Villa.

• Access all the Nottingham Forest audio

• Take a listen to Neco Williams speaking to Colin