Aston Villa showcased their grit by beating Leicester 2-1 at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
Ollie Watkins started for Villa, played an hour of football and continued to build up his fitness after not playing in pre-season.
Jhon Duran scored another winner for Villa from the bench, with the team replicating their win at West Ham United from the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
Amadou Onana opened the scoring at Leicester – just like he did at the London Stadium – and Duran made the impact from the bench. Rinse and repeat from the Midlands side.
Duran could have left Villa in the summer, but he stayed put and everyone is now delighted that happened.
But Emery has still decided to stick with Watkins by starting him in the opening three matches, although, Ian Wright thinks there is time for a change given that he is yet to score.
Wright feels Duran is ‘really putting pressure on Watkins’ and he needs to be starting games for the team now.
The former striker hailed the 20-year-old for his headed goal and how he took the chance like a ‘seasoned striker’, as he told Premier League Productions (31/08/24 at 5:10 pm).
Jhon Duran’s winner against Leicester City
“You have got to be thinking now, the impact he is having, he is a danger in the box, he should be looking to starting now,” said Wright.
“I think he is really putting pressure on Ollie Watkins to start now because that’s the finish (against Leicester) of a seasoned striker, the way he has taken that chance, it’s brilliant.”
Class is permanent with Ollie Watkins
Watkins won Villa’s Player of the Season for the 2023/24 campaign and he shouldn’t be dropped just because he hasn’t scored in his first three matches.
First of all, he did the same last season, yet he still fired Villa into the Champions League, so class is permanent for a reason.
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Plus, in terms of dropping Watkins, that won’t happen because Emery will naturally rotate after the International break, anyway.
Villa will have a lot of games to deal with. Premier League, Champions League and the League Cup, so there will be plenty of rotation happening.
