How to watch Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest in UEFA Europa League semi-finals on TNT Sports and HBO Max - date, kick-off time
By Ben Morse
Published 07/05/2026 at 19:08 GMT+1
React to this story
Aston Villa will aim to overcome a one-goal deficit to reach the UEFA Europa League final as they face Nottingham Forest in their semi-final second leg on Thursday.
Highlights: Wood profits from bizarre handball as Forest net first-leg win over Villa
Video credit: TNT Sports
Chris Wood's second-half penalty was the difference in Forest's 1-0 win over Villa in the first leg at the City Ground a week ago.
The penalty was awarded after the VAR recommended a review for a handball offence committed by Lucas Digne in his attempt to stop Omari Hutchinson's cross, with Wood stepping up and blasting Forest into the lead.
The first leg of the all-English semi-final was not without controversy, though. Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson was arguably fortunate to still be on the pitch after catching Ollie Watkins with his studs in a sliding challenge.
Speaking to TNT Sports afterwards, Emery criticised VAR and insisted that the tackle "could break his ankle."
Emery said: "Fantastic, the referee, fantastic. But the VAR is so, so bad.
"It's a clear red card. I watched it and I don't understand why the VAR is not calling the referee because it's so, so clear. It's a huge, huge mistake. VAR is responsible."
Villa's manager added: "I watched it back... Wow. Huge. He could break his ankle. VAR, where are you?"
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/04/30/image-7f12fa57-27e7-4ebf-8925-ab307b7f2e60-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
‘VAR, where are you?’ – Emery slams ‘huge mistake’ as Watkins lucky not to ‘break ankle’
Video credit: TNT Sports
The result sets up to be a fascinating second leg at Villa Park, with a much-changed Villa losing to relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, and a heavily-rotated Forest side dismantling Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
In Igor Jesus, Forest have the joint top-scorer in the Europa League so far, with the Brazilian notching up seven goals in the competition.
The winners will face either Braga or Freiburg in the final in Istanbul, with Braga 2-1 up from the first leg.
When is Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest?
The second leg of Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals takes place on Thursday, May 7 at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Kick-off is at 20:00 UK time, with live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max starting from 19:00.
- Remarkable stat shows extent of Carrick effect after dramatic Liverpool win
- How rookie Chivu rode the storm to seal Scudetto for 'reborn' Inter
How to watch Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest
Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest will be live on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through HBO Max, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder.
For the latest information on which football matches are on TNT Sports, click here.
Here is the TNT Sports schedule and TV guide. And for the full Premier League schedule, click here.
Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.
Related Topics
Related Matches
Aston Villa
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/sport/football/club/logo/300/4010.png)
4
0
Nottingham Forest
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/sport/football/club/logo/300/4088.png)
Aggregate score (4-1)
Commentary
Advertisement
Advertisement