Regarding Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran, Aston Villa informed Unai Emery that he had made his opinions “crystal clear.”

Regarding Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran, Aston Villa informed Unai Emery that he had made his opinions “crystal clear.”

On the one hand, Watkins is the proven performer for Aston Villa and a key reason why they secured Champions League football last season.

And, on the other hand, you have the rising star in Duran, who recently signed a new contract, but is eager to start as many games as possible.

Ever since Duran started banging in the goals from the bench, including that long-range stunner against Everton, a debate has engaged as to who should start for the team.

With Villa losing four games on the bounce, then that talk will only grow, especially if they aren’t playing well going forward.

The Midlands side haven’t scored in back-to-back matches – Club Brugge in the Champions League and then Liverpool in the Premier League.

Watkins has started both matches and it was suggested that there needs to be a change, especially with formation, but that has been dismissed.

Emery is pretty stubborn in his ways, and if he wants to go down a certain road, he will do it and won’t change it, regardless.

That seems to be the case with Watkins, even though Duran has scored a fair few goals from the bench, as well as in his last two starts for Aston Villa.

But Craig Burley made it clear that it’s a ‘whole different scenario’ starting matches than having to come off the bench to make an impact, as he told ESPN.

The Scotland international added that it’s ‘crystal clear’ that Emery feels Watkins is his guy to start because of his all-round game.

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