New data reveal the new depths Ollie Watkins has plumbed at Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins is leading the way in a particular Premier League statistic that shows just how much he has struggled for form so far this season.
Ollie Watkins netted double figures in league goals for the fifth successive season in 2024-25, but he has scored only once in his first 13 appearances of this campaign for Aston Villa.
He was linked away from the club over the summer after Football Insider revealed that Arsenal were planning to reignite their interest in Watkins following rejected £50million offer in January.
Watkins was also targeted by Newcastle until the end of the window, but he remained at Villa Park and has subsequently struggled to make his mark so far this season.
Unai Emery has largely stuck by him, with starts in eight of their nine league games up to now, but it is clear that he is not the player of campaigns gone by, and one particular statistic has only emphasised his struggles further.
No Premier League player has been caught offside more than Watkins
Watkins is a striker who likes to play on the shoulder of defenders and create space by making runs in behind defences.
He has been an expert at doing so over recent seasons, but his woes so far in this campaign have seen him mistime his runs more often than not, and also fluff his lines in front of goal a lot more frequently.
In fact, according to WhoScored, Watkins leads the Premier League in offsides in 2025-26 up to now, with seven, which sees him tied with Bournemouth’s Evanilson ahead of every other player.
There are obviously other stats that also highlight just how much he has struggled, but this is as prevalent as others, especially considering he was only caught offside 16 times in 38 games last season [Statmuse].
Those 16 calls came across 2,611 minutes played, or one offside every 163 minutes, whereas his current 2025-26 stats of seven in 715 minutes place him at one offside every 102 minutes, so there is a clear drop-off in terms of timing his runs well to then be in on goal.
Unai Emery has backed Watkins to return to form
Watkins’ woes have led Aston Villa to start scouting Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor, as revealed by Football Insider, with a possibility of exploring a January move for his services.
Former Villa scout Mick Brown, who was instrumental in the England striker moving to the club in 2020, has told Football Insider that Emery will continue to back Watkins, and he will “bounce back” to show how good he is rather than “shrinking and hiding away.”
After a poor showing against Bologna last month, Emery backed his striker to start getting better, saying: “It doesn’t matter, the goal is coming through the work he did today. He pressed, he was getting in duels, he got chances, he got a penalty, he missed [the penalty] but the most important [thing] is how he played in 30 minutes doing his task and he did a fantastic job.”
Watkins did score in Villa’s next game as the beat Fulham 3-1, but that remains his only club goal so far this season, with his last five appearances all proving fruitless.