With Jhon Duran suspended for three games, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery will look to Ollie Watkins again to deliver in front of goal in our upcoming fixtures.
Villa were unsuccessful in our appeal to have Duran’s red card rescinded after he was sent off in our defeat to Newcastle Utd in midweek, and so the 21-year-old will now sit out our next three games as a result.
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Having earned his starting berth with his impressive form and goalscoring exploits, it’s disappointing to see the Colombian international now being forced to miss time, particularly given the contentious decision to dismiss him on Tyneside, but it does now open up a window of opportunity for Watkins to re-establish himself in leading the Villa line.
The 28-year-old has struggled in recent weeks, and ultimately it hasn’t been a great season overall for him thus far, with just seven goals and five assists in 24 appearances across all competitions. His injury issues haven’t helped as he has seemingly been dealing with minor concerns all season, but given the standard he set last year, he’ll undoubtedly be disappointed himself and desperate to make a bigger contribution.
In his last 10 Premier League games, he’s managed just two goals and one assist, and so his more recent barren spell ultimately led to the decision from Emery to give Duran a run of four consecutive league games in the Villa starting line-up.
Having had that time out of the side, and with our lack of alternatives to play up top, the responsibility of leading the line and firing us up the standings will fall on the shoulders of Watkins again, and he has to deliver.
His tireless work ethic, movement, ability to create by either stretching the pitch to create space for others to exploit or providing assists for his teammates, all make him a fundamental figure for us and a great fit for Emery’s system and style of play, but it’s the number of goals that he scores on which he’ll ultimately be judged.
Watkins must rediscover consistency and a ruthlessness in front of goal in the next fortnight or so to give us that cutting edge up front, and while he’s more than capable of doing so given we’ve seen it from him previously, it’s vital that he finds some confidence and gets back to being a decisive figure for us in the final third.
He’ll be assisted by the likes of Morgan Rogers and John McGinn in that process, while it’s an important boost to have Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey returning from injury to bolster our options and give us more quality in attacking areas too.
However, it’s on Watkins to ensure that we have an end product and that we punish Brighton, Leicester City and West Ham Utd when chances come our way, and it’s hoped that he once again relishes the role of being our main frontman when we need him most at a critical point in our campaign.
