Danny Raza has been speaking on the latest edition of the Holtecast podcast about all things relating to Aston Villa.
The main focus of the episode was Villa’s 3-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates, and while he was talking about this, Ollie Watkins was mentioned.
The 24-year-old had a brilliant game for Villa as he grabbed two goals to take his tally in the Premier League to six, and he earned a fantastic rating of 9.12.
However, Raza thinks that before the game, Watkins was under pressure to perform, and he was delighted that he did.
He said: “This was a massive game for him because apart from the Liverpool game, he hasn’t scored a goal from open play in the Premier League.
“I don’t want to justify this, but there were people who were doubting him already, and he proved [on Sunday] that he’s not a one-game wonder.
“This guy is brilliant, he really is.
“I think Watkins has contributed to 33% of Villa’s goals or something like that.
“Watkins brings a lot of what [Jack] Grealish offers, but he’s got something else about him.
“We’ve finally got someone who can attack the ball with their head and is good with their feet.”
Do you think Watkins has been a good signing for Villa?
Yes, he has been brilliant
No, I expect more
TIF Thoughts on Watkins and Raza’s thoughts on him…
Aston Villa have scored 18 Premier League goals, and of them, Watkins has directly contributed to seven, which is an impressive return from a player who had never played in the top-flight before this season.
The former Brentford striker has also scored two headers, so just under half of his goals in the league have been with his head, so we see Raza’s point about the presence in the air.
The 24-year-old’s six goals in the league this season mean he is only behind six other players in the goalscoring charts, so it would be fair to say he has had a very good start to the season and we can see why Raza likes him so much.