Ollie Watkins’ stats against Fulham point to major flaw in Unai Emery’s Aston Villa system
Aston Villa came from behind to secure their first Premier League win of the season, with Ollie Watkins at the centre of the action.
After scoring the opener in the third minute, Raul Jimenez was substituted after picking up an injury during the manic goal celebrations with his Fulham teammates.
Despite a first win at Villa Park in the Premier League this season, Les Ferdinand says the Aston Villa players don’t look happy in a major indictment of Unai Emery‘s squad.
Nobody will be unhappier than Josh King after Fulham saw a stonewall penalty denied despite Matty Cash‘s handball preventing a certain goal when it was still 1-0.
Ollie Watkins has been poor without a rival striker to compete for spaces in Aston Villa‘s lineup since Jhon Duran moved to Al-Nassr, but he grabbed a goal against the Cottagers. Aside from that, however, he was quite poor.
Despite a brilliant goal, Ollie Watkins was poor against Fulham
Some players really do need competition for places to perform at their best, and so there may be credence to the idea that Duran’s departure has taken some of the fire out of Ollie Watkins.
The 29-year-old scored 17 goals and provided 14 assists in all competitions in the 2024-25 season, but looks a shadow of himself this season. So far, in seven games, he has managed just one goal, and Villa’s form has been a representation of their striker’s output.
Watkins scored an amazing goal against Fulham to notch his first of the campaign, lobbing the goalkeeper and spinning away to celebrate.
Yet, the stats below show exactly why he needs to do more to help Villa outside of scoring goals.
| Goals | 1 |
| Shots | 1 |
| Touches | 27 |
| Total Passes | 15 |
| Pass accuracy | 53% |
| Key passes | 0 |
| Possession lost | 12 |
| Offsides | 1 |
Having scored the equaliser, fans will go easy on him but when Watkins is not contributing, he strikes a grim figure at the head of Aston Villa’s lineup and exposes a problem Emery has with his system.
Villa aren’t creating enough chances for their talisman, and despite finding the net against Fulham, that was his only shot across 90 minutes.
Watkins no longer on penalties for Aston Villa after Bologna miss
Football can be brutal and Watkins discovered that this week after he was demoted from penalties.
His costly miss against Bologna in midweek saw John McGinn reveal that Watkins isn’t actually supposed to Aston Villa’s primary penalty kick taker.
Speaking to the media, McGinn said: “I’ve gone down the list after the Brentford one. Donyell was meant to take it, but he was off the pitch, so Ollie was next in line as the striker. It’s something we need to eradicate and get better at.”
Given Watkins had a hand in 31 goals last season, he will likely find a way to return to top form, but until he does, Emery will need his whole starting XI to share in the goals; otherwise, things will continue to be a major challenge.