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Watkins’ Struggles Impact Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins’ poor form is becoming a problem for Aston Villa. Unai Emery admitted that Aston Villa were in a Premier League title race until a month ago. Watkins is having his most difficult season since joining the club almost six years ago.
Watkins had a decent chance to give Villa a first-half lead at Wolves but was unable to get his shot away quickly enough after being put through on goal. Emery’s out-of-form side went on to lose 2-0 to the bottom club and have now dropped to fourth in the table.
Calls for Tammy Abraham to start are growing. Watkins has scored only once in his last 11 appearances. His finishing levels have dipped and his dynamic movement is down too.
Throughout his five previous seasons at Villa, Watkins’ goal tally had tracked his expected goals numbers consistently. He had scored 75 Premier League goals with an expected goals figure of 75.11. An average of 0.44 goals per 90 minutes on both metrics in that time.
This season, his goals per 90 minutes tally of 0.34 is as low as it has been since being at the same level in the season that Dean Smith was replaced by Steven Gerrard and Villa finished 14th. Interestingly, his expected goals is also at its lowest since that campaign.
Why isn’t Watkins getting the same volume of chances? Emery needs to work on that with his team but one concern might be that Watkins, now 30, could be losing a little of the spark that set him apart. The intensity of his work up top is integral to his game.
His top speed this season is 33.12 kilometres per hour, which is down on last season, which was down on the season before that, which was down on his record high of 36.10 kilometres per hour in the 2021/22 season. A steady dip in speed that looks like a trend.
With more clever movement and improved service, it need not be catastrophic. Watkins can find a way. But his struggle to find the spaces that he once did coupled with a lack of confidence in front of goal has put the spotlight on him. Emery is still backing his man.
Asked how Watkins could turn it around in the press conference after the Wolves defeat, Emery said: “Hard work and looking forward. Working. Preparing the next game. And of course, he is going to score goals again.”
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