---
title: "Journalist hail ‘pleasing’ Watkins who ‘tormented’ Burnley"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2022/05/08/journalist-hail-pleasing-ollie-watkins-who-tormented-burnley/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Crippy Cooke"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2022-05-08T19:13:49Z"
modified: "2022-05-08T19:13:50Z"
---

# Journalist hail ‘pleasing’ Watkins who ‘tormented’ Burnley

[Aston Villa put Burnley to the sword with a 3-1 win](https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2022/may/07/burnley---aston-villa/) at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon and Ollie Watkins was one of many players who shone.

The 26-year-old hasn’t been at his best this season but took his Premier League tally to double figures for the second consecutive campaign with a brilliant close-range header.

*Ashley Preece* of [Birmingham Live](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/match-reports/aston-villa-player-ratings-burnley-23893991) gave Watkins a player rating of 8/10 and said he ‘tormented’ the Burnley defence. *Preece* added how the England international was a ‘monster’ to defend against and looked a ‘man on a mission’ with Gareth Southgate present.

*Grey Whitebloom* of [90min](https://www.90min.com/posts/burnley-1-3-aston-villa-player-ratings-premier-league-2021-22) gave a player rating of 7/10 and said he was a ‘constant nuisance’ at Burnley. *Cole Pettem* of [7500 to Holte](https://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2022/5/7/23061222/player-ratings-burnley-1-3-aston-villa) gave the 26-year-old a player rating of 7.5/10 and called his overall performance ‘pleasing’.

[Against the Clarets](https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1549895/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2021-2022-Burnley-Aston-Villa), Watkins played for 90 minutes, had 43 touches, had three shots, created one chance, made three tackles, completed 63% of his 27 passes and won four aerial duels.

The 26-year-old has made 31 Premier League appearances [this season](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ollie-watkins/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/324358), scoring 10 goals. Watkins bagged 14 goals in 2020/21, so he would need a strong finish to the campaign to surpass that tally this late.

***[In other news, journalists say ‘magical’ Emiliano Buendia was ‘clinical’ v Burnley](https://readastonvilla.com/2022/05/08/journalists-say-magical-emiliano-buendia-was-clinical-v-burnley/)***