Dan Carter

Mon 27 November 2023 11:10, UK

Aston Villa couldn’t have returned to Premier League action with much more of a bang following the November international break, as Unai Emery’s side ran out 2-1 winners over Tottenham.

Goals from Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins on either side of halftime ensured that Villa climbed above Spurs, into the Champions League places, to continue their excellent start to the campaign and boost their hopes of a top-four finish this season.

Watkins’ second-half strike was his seventh Premier League goal of the campaign and his 12th goal involvement in as many games and Gabby Agbonlahor believes that the Aston Villa frontman now has everything required of him to be part of England’s squad for Euro 2024.

Speaking on talkSPORT (27 November, 8:40) he said: “I think Watkins for he me, he’s got it all. You look at the unselfish runs that he does, he’s always on the move, and he’s got that clinical edge to him now with his finishing.

“Aston Villa create chances now, you look at them yesterday, even though they weren’t at their best, they’re creating so many chances.”

It seems slightly premature to say that Watkins has that complete clinical edge to his finishing as he can still be occasionally wasteful in front of the goal. His strike in Sunday’s win came from an xG of only 0.09 but he missed the target with a header in the final 10 minutes that carries an xG of 0.41 [Fotmob].

Despite scoring seven Premier League goals this season, the England international has also missed 13 big chances in the league this season. In comparison Heung-Min Son has only missed one, Mohammed Salah four and Callum Wilson five.

To take his game to the next level and truly become a no-brainer for Gareth Southgate this summer, Watkins has to test the keeper with more of his efforts. So far this season only 43.6 per cent of his shots have been on target, a figure worse than 56 per cent of Premier League strikers [Fbref].

In the final third, however, Agbonlahor is right to suggest that Watkins has grown his all-round game. On top of his impressive scoring record, the 27-year-old places in the 94th percentile of Premier League forwards for assists per 90 minutes, with an average of 0.4.

Few forwards register as many shot-creating actions per game, with Watkins falling in the top 13 per cent of his positional peers with an average of 3.27 per game. While still being a threat in front of the goal himself he manages to bring his teammates into matches.

What perhaps demonstrates the Englishman’s work ethic up front more than anything are the sheer number of touches he gets in the opposition’s box. So far this season he is registering just under seven touches in the penalty area a game, better than 93 per cent of strikers.

Emery doesn’t need his forwards to get particularly involved in the build-up, but the Aston Villa man must improve in terms of his passing to deserve that title of having it all. He only competes 12.46 passes a game, putting him in the bottom 37 per cent of the league’s forwards with a low completion rate of 77.6 per cent.

If Watkins maintains this impressive form between now and the end of the season, he will almost certainly be part of the England squad going to Germany, but if he wants to play consistently for the Three Lions, he has to polish a few areas of his game, it isn’t quite as well rounded as Agbonlahor has suggested.

In other Aston Villa news, Leon Bailey has come in for criticism after a wasteful 31 per cent performance whilst on international duty