Aston Villa made it three wins in a row on Saturday evening as they beat Luton Town 3-2 at Kenilworth Road.
It was by no means plain sailing for Unai Emery’s side, with The Hatters pulling two goals back in the second half before Lucas Digne’s late winner.
Things had started well for the Villans as Ollie Watkins continued his fine form, netting a first-half brace to put the away side in control.
The 28-year-old’s form has been electric throughout the 2023/24 season, and robust conversations have emerged over the striker’s involvement in England’s European Championship squad in the summer.
Former Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne has tipped Watkins as Harry Kane’s long-term successor.
“Watkins is certainly one of the options to succeed Harry Kane at England,” he said (betideas.com).
“He runs really well, and he takes his chances, plus his movement and work rate are really good too. Strikers are always going to be judged on goals, and his consistency in that respect has been really good, so I think he’s in with a great shout of being next in line.”
And now, after his latest goalscoring antics, the Villa striker has overtaken arguably the best player on the planet in one attacking statistic.
Ollie Watkins overtakes Kylian Mbappe
Per WhoScored.com, Watkins’ Luton Town brace has moved him ahead of Kylian Mbappe and Mohamed Salah for goals and assists.
The Aston Villa striker now sits on 26 goal contributions, compared to Salah’s 24 and Mbappe’s 25.
Unsurprisingly, Bayern Munich’s Kane is out in front with 32.
The improvement in Watkins’ game over the last 18 months has been superb. Previously, the striker’s finishing ability was rightly questioned.
Too often, he would snatch at half chances and lack composure in front of goal. His second goal on Saturday demonstrated a forward at the peak of his powers.
Per Sofascore, Watkins amassed an expected goals of 0.64 against Luton, meaning he outperformed his xG by 1.36.
He is making the most of challenging opportunities in front of goal, which he struggled to do in the early stages of his Aston Villa career.
