Time up for Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa must start Tammy Abraham vs Chelsea
Ollie Watkins has been roundly criticised in the aftermath of Aston Villa’s defeat by Wolves.
Unai Emery‘s side delivered a woeful performance at Molineux on Friday night and slumped to a 2-0 loss after second-half goals from Joao Gomes and Rodrigo Gomes.
The result dented Villa‘s Champions League hopes, and there was further misery when Manchester United leapfrogged them into third, courtesy of their win over Crystal Palace.
While the visitors to a man were poor, Watkins was singled out for a particularly below-par performance, potentially forcing Emery to weigh up his spot in his starting XI.
Indeed, with Tammy Abraham waiting in the wings, it could be time to drop him.
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Ollie Watkins’ Wolves nightmare in numbers
The lack of goalscoring firepower up front is damaging Villa’s top-four hopes at the worst possible time.
Watkins is primarily to blame, having been prioritised over Donyell Malen. With every passing match, the decision to let him leave Villa Park looks all the more befuddling.
The England international has netted just once in 11 games, while he has scored in only six of the 38 matches he has played across all competitions this season.
This is simply not good enough, and his rut continued against Villa’s Midlands rivals.
According to Sofascore, Watkins mustered up one shot against Wolves, which was blocked.
He also completed just 11 of his 15 attempted passes, proving he ploughed a lone furrow up front, while he lost possession nine times despite taking only 23 touches.
Villa were relying on him to hold up the ball and release runners in behind, which he failed to do. It therefore came as no surprise that he was hit with a lowly 6.2 match rating.
Emery eventually acted, hooking him with four minutes left to play, but by then, it was too little, too late.
Supporters reacted angrily to Watkins’ display, pointing to his awful touch and dribbling.
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Tammy Abraham can come back to haunt Chelsea
Chelsea are up next at Villa Park, and it falls to Emery to be brave and make a change up top.
Abraham has scored in his last two home outings, and he will have a point to prove against his former club, who sold him to Roma for £34million back in August 2021.
The 28-year-old came to Villa’s rescue after his late equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Leeds United on February 21 and will be champing at the bit for an opportunity to play 90 minutes.
There is certainly no better time to thrust him into the firing line.
Watkins could be held back as an impact substitute, and if Abraham performs, it would be a timely reminder for Emery that he holds two top-class strikers.
Villa simply must breathe new life into their campaign sooner rather than later, and Abraham could be the man for the big occasion.
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