THE job Unai Emery has done at Aston Villa really can’t be underestimated.
When Steven Gerrard was dismissed back in October, the club were 17th in the Premier League – they’re now sixth.
The ex-Villarreal coach has improved the Villains from back to front but his biggest success story has to be the reinvention of Ollie Watkins (£6.1m).
Previously deployed on the right wing or as one half of a strike partnership, the 27-year-old is now leading the line solo, as he did successfully at Brentford, with immense results.
And Watkins produced his best performance of the campaign this past Saturday when he dismantled a usually resolute Newcastle defence.
Eddie Howe’s side have conceded the fewest goals in the top flight this season but Fabian Schar (£3.8m) and Sven Botman (£3.1m) were run ragged by Villa’s No11, who assisted the hosts opener before scoring two of his own in a 3-0 win.
It wasn’t just the direct goal contributions that reflected well on Watkins but the nature of his overall performance too.
His knock down for Jacob Ramsey (£2.3m) was high class and his penetrating runs in behind Newcastle’s back four made him a persistent threat as the visitors wilted in the Midlands.
Naturally, Watkins claimed the Star Man award for his masterclass and with it, 20 Dream Team points, his biggest single-game haul of 2022/23.
He’s also the joint-best performer of Game Week 30 so far, level with Diogo Jota (£3.9m) who took Leeds for 20 points on Monday night.
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Watkins has been one of the league’s most in-form players since the mid-season break for the World Cup in Qatar, as best evidenced by his Dream Team returns.
In fact, only Erling Haaland has produced more points among forwards across the last nine Game Weeks.
DREAM TEAM POINTS SINCE GAME WEEK 21:
- Erling Haaland – 128
- OLLIE WATKINS – 95
- Marcus Rashford – 84
- Gabriel Martinelli – 81
- Mohamed Salah – 76
- Harry Kane – 64
These numbers are particularly impressive considering Villa have not had additional European fixtures to bolster their schedule.
That seems likely to change next season though as Emery’s men look set to qualify for either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.
Dream Team bosses should focus on the task in hand but it’s difficult not to think about Watkins’ starting price for 2023/24 already.
The ex-Brentford striker has scored 15 goals and provided seven assists in all competitions this season with 11 of those goals coming in his last 12 games!
At the time of writing, he appears in just 2.5% of teams and that wise minority of gaffers will be hopeful of more points in Game Week 31 when Watkins takes on Brentford and Fulham, two teams increasingly “on the beach”.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
