Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins deserves England prize after win v Arsenal, Alan Shearer agrees
Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins netted his 19th Premier League goal of the season in the 2-0 victory at Arsenal, and Alan Shearer says he should “absolutely” be in England’s Euro 2024 squad.
Watkins’ strike equalled Christian Benteke’s club record for Premier League goals in a season and was also his 10th strike away from home in a single campaign, becoming the first Aston Villa player to achieve that feat.
Villa scored twice late on through Leon Bailey and Watkins to put a massive dent in Arsenal’s title hopes, while also consolidating a place in the Premier League’s top four.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 about Watkins’ chances of being on the plane to Germany, Shearer said: “Absolutely he goes, there’s no doubt about it. 19 league goals, the way he finished that off, the way he was running in behind, the ways he was causing all sorts of problems.
“Absolutely, he’s going.”
Ollie Watkins sets Premier League alight for Aston Villa
19 goals in 31 appearances make Watkins the second-highest scorer in the Premier League this season, behind only Erling Haaland, and one more will take him level with the Norwegian.
Watkins also came close in the first half of Villa’s 2-0 win at Arsenal, hitting the post for the 19th time in his Premier League career, which is also the most of any player since his debut in September 2020 according to Opta.
There’s no doubt that Unai Emery’s Villa have been the surprise packages this season, both in the Premier League and in Europe, going three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham after defeating Spurs’ North London rivals.
The striker was also impressive as-ever in general play, with SofaScore recording a pass accuracy of 73% (11/15 completed) from Watkins, who also won four of his six ground duels.
Despite having only 28 touches of the ball in the game, he still managed to run Gabriel and William Saliba ragged, completing two key passes and picking up two fouls for his hard work.
Watkins’ stats at Villa suggest he’s on course to break all kinds of records this season, and this form certainly deserves the ultimate prize of representing his country in a major tournament this summer.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans are at risk of seeing transfer deals fall through if a certain development pans out.
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