Aston Villa will be hoping to make it four wins on the bounce with a home clash against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.

The Villans go into the fixture in high spirits after a magnificent 4-2 victory at home to arch rivals Birmingham City on Sunday afternoon.

Dean Smith's men are eighth in the Championship, four points off the play-off places, with promotion very much still on Villa fans' minds with over half a season to play.

One thing that hasn't changed since Smith came in is their defence - they gave away two very sloppy goals against Blues and have now conceded 25 goals in the league this term.

Here, we take a look at THREE reasons why Villa's season is destined to crash and burn this year...

Villa's defence looked shaky against Birmingham at the weekend - the likes of Neil Taylor was run ragged and the Villans gave away some very sloppy goals.

James Chester and Axel Tuanzebe had forged a good understanding in defence over the last couple of weeks, but having now conceded 25 goals in the Championship this season, things need to improve, and dramatically.

Grealish was the subject of a huge bid from Tottenham in the summer, and the London club's interest is likely to re-occur in January due to his fine form for Villa.

If his head is turned again then Villa are going to have a big problem in the New Year.

It's hard to believe that the likes of Micah Richards is still on Villa's books.

The 30-year-old hasn't made an appearance for the club in over two years and is likely to still be on extortionate wages following their relegation from the Premier League.

If they keep these high-earners at the club for much longer then it could have a detrimental impact on their transfer business in January.

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