Aston Villa could regret ditching CF “throwback” who’s outscoring Watkins

Aston Villa were unable to beat ten-man Ipswich Town over the weekend, drawing 1-1 at Villa Park, leaving them ninth in the Premier League after 25 games played, having won ten, drawn eight, and

lost seven, for a total of 38 points.

Despite generating 2.42 xG, taking 25 shots, creating six “big chances,” and holding 76% possession,

the Villans only scored one goal, while ten-man Ipswich (who had Axel Tuanzebe sent off in the first half) scored once despite having 24% possession and only four shots.

Since Jhon Duran was sold in the January transfer window, Villa haven’t had that same unstoppable goalscorer off the bench, which is shown in not only the results, but also their xG performance

ratings, which have underperformed in both Premier League games since his departure.

This has increased the pressure on main man Ollie Watkins to maintain delivering…

Ollie Watkins’ season in numbers

Watkins has made 34 appearances for Unai Emery’s team this season, scoring 12 goals, assisting nine times, and playing 2,369 minutes. While this is excellent overall output, Watkins is underachieving

his xG by -0.15 per 90, resulting in a -3.7 xG underperformance this season.

Duran was an excellent striker option for Villa to have alongside Watkins because both forwards brought distinct strengths to the team, allowing Emery to make changes during games to give his team an advantage, which he has now lost the ability to do.

While Villa added Marcus Rashford and Donyell Malen in January, both of whom are excellent signings, they are still missing the clinical finisher and physical specimen type of striker that Duran was, which has taken a string out of their bow this season.

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