John Barnes has spoken glowingly about Ollie Watkins after Aston Villa secured a much-needed 2-1 win over Fulham on Saturday at Craven Cottage.
When morale is down, you need the big players to step up to the plate and that’s exactly what happened over the weekend.
The ever-reliable Ollie Watkins supplied two fantastic goals, with John Barnes stating that the Aston Villa striker is ’on fire’, as he told Premier League Productions (17/02/24 at 5:15 pm).
That’s the 28-year-old’s 13th goal of the Premier League campaign and he is well on course to surpass his best tally of 15 from the previous season.
The work Unai Emery is doing with him is playing a huge part, as the decision to simplify his game has worked a treat.
It’s a big reason why Aston Villa secured European football last time out and it could prove to be the difference in the team finishing in the top four in May.
There is still a long way to go, but legendary forward John Barnes likes the look of Ollie Watkins.
Ollie Watkins’ brace for Aston Villa
“Great movement,” said Barnes about Watkins’ second goal against Fulham. “He came short, then he went long and the ball was played through perfectly for him.
“He is the centre-forward that is on fire, at the moment.”
Looking over the shoulder
It can’t be ignored, Tottenham, even though they dropped points against Wolves over the weekend, and Manchester United, are breathing down our necks.
Two points separate us from Spurs and a further five from Man United, but they seem to be the form team in the country so far.
All three still have some huge games coming up, including playing the current top three either on home soil or at their respective grounds.
If anyone can pull out a surprise from those matches and secure the three points, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if it seals the Champions League deal for that side
