Unai Emery has talked about the possibility of starting Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins as a partnership for Aston Villa against Ipswich Town.
The rise of Jhon Duran in an Aston Villa jersey is becoming impossible to ignore, with the 20-year-old producing outrageous goal-per-minute numbers.
Following Duran’s goal against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night, his first start of the season, the towering Colombian has now scored five goals in 251 minutes across all competitions.
In most circumstances, those numbers would cement a player’s spot in the starting XI but Villa have one of Europe’s most lethal finishers ahead of him in Ollie Watkins.
Watkins plundered 40 goal involvements in all competitions last term and is beginning to find his feet in the early stages of this campaign, scoring a brace against Everton and the equaliser against Wolves.
As much as it’s impossible to drop Watkins from the starting XI, it’s equally difficult to ignore Duran’s impact, and the two could finally start together against Ipswich Town.
Unai Emery talks up Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins partnership vs Ipswich
In the comeback win over Wolves, Emery tried out Duran alongside Watkins, as the young striker came off the bench on the hour mark.
Duran usually replaces the Englishman late on in games but the Spanish boss experimented with two up top last weekend, and it worked a treat.
Watkins equalised less than 10 minutes after Duran was introduced while his partner scored in the fourth minute of added time to make sure of the three points.
Now, Emery has spoken about the possibility of the two lethal strikers starting together in Sunday’s trip to Ipswich.
Speaking to Aston Villa’s official website, Emery praised Duran’s impact this season and issued a ‘challenge’ to the striking duo.
“He’s evolving and focusing like I want,” Emery said. “He’s playing with his impact being very well. Playing like he did on Tuesday in a Carabao Cup in 90 minutes, he played fantastic.
“It’s my challenge to try to get the best of him, playing as a striker, playing with Ollie Watkins. The idea is they will play more together.
“Now, like we are in the squad with our structure tactically, for players like him I think it’s the best thing we can feel and we will get good performances individually and collectively.”
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How Aston Villa could line up with Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins
Former Villa striker Darren Bent previously said that it must be a ‘nightmare’ for Duran to play behind Watkins as he never gets injured.
Now Emery has talked up the idea of them both playing together, it means one player will have to drop out of the starting XI, and that could be Jacob Ramsey.
When Duran came off the bench against Wolves, he replaced Ramsey, with Morgan Rogers switching into a role on the left wing.
That is the key change that Emery could make if he chooses to go with the striking duo up top, otherwise, his starting XI will be similar to the one that beat Wolves, apart from Leon Bailey replacing John McGinn and Diego Carlos potentially dropping out due to injury.
