Ollie Watkins is the reason why Paul Merson is shocked by Aston Villa ‘madness’
Ollie Watkins is to blame for the goal difference problem at Aston Villa that Paul Merson has labelled as “madness”.
The Villans have lost four games on the bounce in all competitions, going without a win in the Premier League since 19 October against Fulham.
This has left Unai Emery’s side in ninth but despite being just one point off Chelsea in third Merson has told Sportskeeda that Villa need to improve their goal difference moving forward.
He said: “I know they are only one point from third place, but there are a lot of teams in front of them. Their goal difference is zero, which is madness.
“Goal difference acts as an extra point in this league, so Villa must be careful and work on improving it.”
Although there are defensive issues in B6 this season, there is good reason to suggest Watkins is to blame.
Ollie Watkins to blame for Aston Villa goal difference problem
The England international has had tipsy turvy start to the campaign but has still started every Premier League game for Emery, ahead of Jhon Duran.
There have been many calls for the 20-year-old to be handed opportunities in the starting XI but the Spaniard has opted for his experienced striker instead.
Sections of the Villa Park faithful want to see the ex-Brentford man benched which isn’t a surprise given that he has scored just one club goal since the start of October.
This has seen him show some poor performances in recent weeks with arguably his worst coming against Tottenham on 3 November.
The 28-year-old managed just 25 touches in North London but still managed to get two shots off [FotMob].
These counted as two big chances missed with both strikes going wide of Guglielmo Vicario’s net in a zero per cent conversion rate on the day.
Given that Watkins also failed to create a chance or a dribble, his all-round showing didn’t contribute positively to the team and ultimately meant the Villans fell to defeat.
Missing big chances has been a theme of the Englishman’s season, missing the most in the entire Premier League with 11, just showing how poor he has been in front of goal.
If these chances had been taken, Villa’s goal difference would have been positive and potentially results would have been different and Emery’s side could be around Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table.
In other Aston Villa news, an “unbelievable” admission has been made by a former Villa star.
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