It has been an outstanding season so far for Ollie Watkins but it could be said there is still room for him to improve at Aston Villa.
For Ollie Watkins and Aston Villa, it has been a great start to the season which currently sees them sit in fifth place. Just three points off top spot in the Premier League.
As Villa’s goalscorer-in-chief, Watkins has seen a lot of praise come his way after his start to the campaign. This is all much deserved as he has been very good at times.
Under the tutelage of Unai Emery, amongst others, the striker has gone from strength to strength. Going from often being Danny Ings’ understudy, to one of the best forwards in the whole league. His manager referred to him as ‘amazing‘ after his hattrick against Brighton so he is clearly well-liked.
Going into a matchday, fans always know what to expect as Watkins as well as several other names are guaranteed starters. With six goals and five assists, he has nearly a goal involvement a game and a goal every other game. That stat stands out on a page.
With all that being said, there is a case to suggest that the Englishman could be doing even better than he is.
How can Ollie Watkins improve?
It is a testament to how good Watkins is that with 11 goal involvements in the Premier League could be added. Add to this two in the Conference League group to boot, it has been a great start.
The quality that surrounds him means that the striker receives plenty of chances throughout each game. This sees him, according to SofaScore, rack up three shots per match on average. Only 1.3 of those are on target. Although he is the best on the planet, compare that to Erling Haaland and he gets 2.3 on target of 3.8 shots.
Although it is only a slight difference, getting shots on target more often will only help him score more goals. It is easier said than done but once he cracks that code, it could be invaluable.
The quality of shots also needs to be considered when looking at this. This season Watkins has an xG of seven in the Premier League. Given that he has only scored six, it points towards him missing a fair few easier chances. 12 big chances have been missed by the Englishman this season, averaging at one per game.
These may only seem like small things to nitpick at but even if he scores half those big chances, he’s on double figures for goals.
It can be said that he has been helped by the quality of his teammates for his assist numbers also. With just 1.59 expected assists, he is massively overperforming that metric, which will level out at some point.
As mentioned earlier, he has been great this season but looking at these stats, he could be even better. With some small tweaks to his game, he could be an elite force in the Premier League moving forward.
