Ollie Watkins underwhelms with 30 points from last eight games but will favourable fixtures prompt resurgence?

IT’S time we had an awkward conversation about Ollie Watkins (£4.2m).

With an ownership of 30.5%, the Aston Villa forward is the seventh-most selected player in Dream Team but his recent form has failed to justify his popularity.

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After a flat showing against Everton on Sunday, he’s mustered just 30 points from his last eight fixtures.

And half of those have been appearance points, the least impressive scoring method in the game.

Needless to say, a striker who features in just shy of a third of all teams is expected to average more than 3.75 points-per-game over a run of eight appearances.

Granted, Watkins has had his moments during this relatively barren streak.

He scored against Brentford in Gameweek 16 and provided two assists at home to Burnley in Gameweek 18 but there really hasn’t been much else to shout about since the start of December.

The 28-year-old’s dip has come at a frustrating time, coinciding with Erling Haaland’s (£7.9m) injury and Mohamed Salah’s (£6.7m) Africa Cup of Nations commitments.

Gaffers have had to tinker with their forward line enough in recent weeks and it would have been helpful if Watkins had ticked over without drawing a critical eye but things are rarely that simple in Dream Team.

The fact of the matter is the Villains’ top scorer has been thoroughly outperformed by several other assets in his position across the last six weeks.

Joao Pedro (£3.8m), Matheus Cunha (£3.6m), Alexander Isak (£4.5m), Julian Alvarez (£4.3m) and Richarlison (£3.1m) have all satisfied their backers with healthy returns lately.

But hang on, let’s not rush to transfer out Watkins without considering all factors.

Despite this lean spell, the England international’s tally of 11 goals and 11 assists for the season remains mightily impressive.

In fact, only Salah and Haaland have more goal involvements to their name at the time of writing.

Watkins is a top-tier Dream Team asset when everything clicks, hence his total of 155 points.

Perhaps more relevantly, Villa are about to embark of a favourable run of fixtures that could prompt a resurgence in their No11’s form.

In Gameweek 21, Unai Emery’s side take on Chelsea in the FA Cup before a league meeting with Newcastle at Villa Park.

The Magpies beat Villa 6-1 in the reverse fixture but it should be a different story in the Midlands as Eddie Howe’s troops have desperately struggled on the road – only Sheffield United have earned fewer points away from home this season.

Plus, Newcastle have lost six of their last seven league games.

Villa then face the Blades (a), Manchester United (h), Fulham (a), Nottingham Forest (h) and Luton (a) in their next five league fixtures.

It won’t be long before they resume their Europa Conference League campaign either, which will bolster the schedule further.

If you feel Watkins has let you down too many times in recent weeks then by all means find a suitable replacement but those inclined to keep the faith may have endured the worst.

Of course, if his dip extends into February then we may have to revisit this subject with a more cut-throat attitude.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk