Aston Villa: ‘Immaculate’ Ollie Watkins hailed for what he did v Sheffield United
Aston Villa ace Ollie Watkins has earned praise from Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards for his performance against Sheffield United.
Watkins scored one and assisted two more as Villa ran out emphatic 5-0 winners at Bramall Lane in Saturday’s (3 February) Premier League clash.
The England international now has 11 goals and 10 assists for the campaign, making him the first player in the division this season to register double figures in both categories [Opta].
He is also the first Villa player to manage that in a Premier League season since Dwight Yorke some 28 years ago, highlighting the magnitude of the type of campaign he is having.
Micah Richards hails Ollie Watkins performance
Watkins’ latest showing against Sheffield United earned him praise galore on The Rest is Football podcast on Monday [5 February, 37m 14s].
“Villa’s all-around game was excellent,” former Villa defender Richards said. “Watkins was very good again. Some of his runs were immaculate.”
Lineker, himself a prolific striker in his playing days, added: “He’s really matured into a fine centre-forward.
“He’s got to be Harry Kane’s understudy for England now, hasn’t he?”
Completing the clean sweep of praise, the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer Shearer said: “He’s having a great season. He looks sharp and looks to have a good relationship with the manager.”
Only Mohamed Salah has done better
In that game against the Blades, Watkins completed 14 of his 19 passes for a 74-per-cent completion rate [Sofascore], which is around about his average for the season of 75.6 per cent.
That ability to bring others into play, including for the two assists, only shows that he is seemingly getting even better with age.
Indeed, his 10 assists this season are already four more than his previous career best in any division [FBref], and there are still 15 matches to play.
When you combine his goals and assists, only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (22) has more than Watkins’ tally of 21 among Premier League players this season.
Indeed, as per FBref, Watkins ranks among the top five per cent of all forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past 12 months for assists per 90 minutes (0.31).
That would be impressive enough if not for his goals record on top – he is among the top 17 per cent in terms of non-penalty goals per 90 (0.51).
The hope, of course, is that Watkins’ ceiling has yet to be reached and these figures will just continue getting better and better. If that is the case, Villa fans really can dream about what is achievable not just this season but beyond.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans pulled off a blinder with some business conducted last week.
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