Aston Villa are currently preparing for one of their biggest matches in recent history with a trip to play Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of the Champions League this evening.
The Villans come into the first leg clash off the back of a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday, thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen.
Unai Emery must be ruthless with his team selection and one brutal decision that should be made is the one to drop Ollie Watkins from the starting line-up.
Why Ollie Watkins should be dropped
The England international is on a barren run of form in front of goal and would not come into this evening’s clash with PSG full of confidence and ready to help the team pick up a historic result.
Watkins has scored one goal in his last nine matches in all competitions for the Villans, which came in a 1-0 win over Brentford towards the start of March.
|
Ollie Watkins’ last five matches for Aston Villa |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Stats |
Brentford (PL) |
Club Brugge (CL) |
Preston (FA Cup) |
Brighton (PL) |
Forest (PL) |
|
Shots on target |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Goals |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Key passes |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Pass accuracy |
53% |
50% |
100% |
50% |
50% |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
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As you can see in the table above, the 29-year-old striker has offered little at the top end of the pitch whilst also being incredibly wasteful with the ball at his feet in the last five matches, completing just half of his passes in three of those five matches.
With this in mind, Emery must ruthlessly axe Watkins from the team, after he offered next to nothing in the win over Forest, to bring Marcus Rashford back into the side.
Why Marcus Rashford is Aston Villa’s answer to Ousmane Dembele
The big threat for the Villans to deal with this evening is likely to be Ousmane Dembele, who has scored 32 goals and provided eight assists in 40 matches in all competitions for PSG this term.
He has played started 17 matches on the wing and 15 games as a centre-forward, highlighting his versatility, and uses his pace and ability on the ball to cause constant problems to opposition defenders.
Rashford is similar to Dembele in many ways, starting seven games on the wing and three times as a striker for Villa, with his versatility at the top end of the pitch as well as his ability to create chances for himself with his pace and the timing of his movements off the shoulder of the last defender.
As you can see in the clip above, the England international showcased his pace and ability in front of goal with his maiden Premier League strike for the Villans against Brighton.
Rashford, once hailed as “unplayable” by analyst Raj Chohan, has scored three goals and provided one assist in his last four matches for the club in all competitions, showing that he is far more in form than Watkins at this moment in time.
His recent goal burst also suggests that he is the kind of player PSG would also be wary of ahead of tonight’s game, in the same that Villa be wary of Dembele, which is why Emery must unleash him from the start after he was on the bench against Forest.
Interestingly, Rashford has played the most games (four) and scored the most goals (three) against PSG out of all of his appearances in the Champions League in his career to date, suggesting that they are a favourable match-up for the English forward.
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The 27-year-old marksman has punished the Parisian side in the past and Emery must ditch Watkins to put Rashford in a position to break French hearts in the Champions League once again.
