Aston Villa relinquished a 1-0 lead at home to Liverpool and ended up losing 2-1 on Tuesday evening. The performance of Ollie Watkins was a highlight, however, as he didn’t give the Liverpool defence a moment to rest at Villa Park.
The 26-year-old started up front alongside Danny Ings and was tireless with his running off the ball to stretch Liverpool’s backline. His hunting led to Villa opening the scoring too, though they weren’t ahead for more than a few minutes.
Tom Gott of 90min gave Watkins a player rating of 7/10 and said he was a ‘massive problem’ for Liverpool. Ashley Preece of Birmingham Live gave the England international a player rating of 7/10 and said he ‘caused carnage’ with his work on and off the ball.
Samuel Bannister of TEAMtalk gave him a player rating of 7/10 and praised his industry as he frequently tried to turn over possession. Tim Nash of iNews gave Watkins a player rating of 8/10.
Against Liverpool, Watkins played for 80 minutes, had 19 touches, won one aerial duel, completed 50% of his 10 passes, created one chance, had one shot which hit the target, whipped in one cross, made one tackle and had two successful dribbles.
In other news, Journalists say Douglas Luiz was ‘stunning’ v Liverpool
