Villa's drop-off at home should now be alarming
· Yahoo Sports
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Defender Tyrone Mings summed up the Aston Villa mood as he slumped to the floor at full-time following a 2-1 defeat at home by Nottingham Forest.
Three defeats in their opening four games only leaves further questions for manager Unai Emery to answer following a summer rebuild.
Villa may have ended a run of 372 Premier League minutes without a goal but their problems remain.
It is the fourth time they have started a top-flight season without winning any of their opening four games, having done so in 1992-93, 1997-98 and 2025-26.
It mirrors last season - which ended with a fourth-placed Premier League finish and historic Europe League triumph - but those celebrations from May already feel like a lifetime ago.
By the time Igor Jesus scored a late winner, Villa were down to 10 men after full-back Ian Maatsen was forced off injured, with Emery using all his substitutes to add to their defensive problems.
There is a fear the left-back's ankle injury could keep him out for a considerable time, meaning new signing Matteo Ruggeri will be called on, perhaps earlier than Emery would want.
The Villa boss complained that Forest's James McAtee should have been sent off for the challenge which injured Maatsen, but refused to blame it for the outcome of the match.
There are mitigating factors.
Along with a new squad after several key departures, the North Stand redevelopment has meant the capacity has been reduced and there are no fans at one end.
But the drop-off at home should now be alarming.
Villa won at home when it mattered most at the end of last season - routing Forest in the Europa League semi-finals en route to winning the competition and putting four past Liverpool to book a Champions League spot - but they need to rediscover the feeling which made them near-invincible in front of their own followers.
So often over the past few seasons, after a Villa equaliser, they have they gone on to win, but there was no grandstand finish this time, leaving Emery perplexed about why his side could not control the game.
"I don't know why," he said. "I want to see the match again and to understand why we lost our shape."
Jesus instead had the final say to leave the Spaniard, who has provided solutions at Villa for so long during his tenure, searching for answers to revive his side's fortunes.