Aston Villa roundup: Winless, goalless and 18th ahead of Nottingham Forest's visit

Three matches into the new Premier League season, Aston Villa find themselves in the relegation zone. According to the Premier League table, Unai Emery's side sit 18th with a single point from three games — one draw and two defeats — with no goals scored, five conceded and a goal difference of -5.

The story so far

The pattern of the opening weeks is a straightforward one:

• Villa began with a goalless draw away to Hull City.
• A narrow 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal followed.
• The heaviest blow landed at Brighton & Hove Albion, who ran out 4-0 winners.

It is the attacking column that alarms most. According to the Premier League table, only three sides in the division are yet to score this season — Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Coventry City. Only pointless Fulham and Coventry sit below Villa in the standings.

BBC Sport's lead on Tuesday carried the headline “No goals but Emery knows Villa's forwards need time” — a hint that patience, rather than panic, is the order of the day for the forward line. Supporters will hope the prescription is right, because the fixture list now hands Villa a chance to prove it.

What's next

Villa host Nottingham Forest on Saturday 12 September (3pm kick-off). Forest arrive 16th and also winless — two draws and a defeat, two goals scored and three conceded, according to the table. FanTribe's fixture data lists Villa as slight favourites at 2.28, with the draw at 3.60 and an away win at 3.50.

A trip to Tottenham Hotspur follows on Saturday 19 September (12.30pm kick-off). Spurs' record is identical to Villa's: three played, one point, no goals scored, five conceded. FanTribe's fixture data has Spurs at 2.00, the draw at 3.75 and Villa at 3.60. BBC Sport also looked at Tottenham's summer business on Sunday, under the headline “Why Spurs' under-the-radar buy might be summer's smartest deal” — a reminder that Villa's next opponents have done their share of recruiting.

The FanTribe view

FanTribe's club data shows the Villa fan hub currently has zero registered supporters — a blank canvas for the claret and blue. The terrace verdict on this start is therefore yet to be written here: Villans confident of a first win against Forest can join the hub, back their side and start shaping it.

The table remains tightly bunched — five clubs level on five points, three more on four — so a first victory on Saturday would lift Villa a long way up it. The immediate task is simpler than the standings suggest: find the first goal, and the rest tends to follow.