Ollie Watkins’ superb goalscoring form continued during Aston Villa’s 3-2 win over Luton Town on Saturday evening.
The 28-year-old once again linked up with Leon Bailey to give the Villans a first-half lead at Kenilworth Road before doubling Villa’s lead before the break.
The brace was the striker’s 14th and 15th goals of the season and takes him just one shy of his tally for the whole of the 2022/23 campaign.
Unsurprisingly, the forward has received plenty of praise over the last couple of months and was praised once again live on Sky Sports commentary.
Alan Smith in awe of Ollie Watkins Aston Villa form
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith knows something about putting the ball in the back of the net.
Talking on Sky Sports co-commentary, Smith hailed Watkins as a forward who is in the “peak of his powers”.
“It’s a zonal marking system, and Watkins finds the space. Nobody in a Luton shirt can get near him,” he said.
“That is a player in the peak of his powers.”
Hard to disagree
It’s hard to disagree with Smith’s assessment of Watkins’ form.
He appears to be developing with age and should now firmly be in the question regarding Harry Kane’s long-term successor in an England shirt.
This view is shared by former Villa defender Richard Dunne, who believes Watkins can be England’s answer after the Bayern Munich forward calls time on his career.
In an interview with betideas.com, he said: “Watkins is certainly one of the options to succeed Harry Kane at England.
“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.”
He added: “I think any English striker that isn’t Harry Kane goes through patches where they aren’t scoring, so he just needs to keep his form up because he’s been outstanding. If he can continue that for the next year or two, he’ll be one of a few strikers who want that No. 9 jersey after Kane.”
If he continues performing at his current level, it’s hard to look further than Watkins regarding England’s selection. He has been extremely unlucky to be stuck behind potentially the Three Lions’ best-ever forward.
