Aston Villa welcome West Ham United to Villa Park on Sunday afternoon and Steven Gerrard has a difficult decision to make in attack – drop Danny Ings or Ollie Watkins?
Leon Bailey and Emiliano Buendia are expected to start on opposing flanks after impressing in Tuesday’s EFL Cup win over Bolton Wanderers, but that would mean a striker must be dropped to accompany them as Gerrard will need a three-man midfield for balance.
Ings scored and made an assist against Bolton, but he could be the one to lose his place as Watkins is a better lone striker – he’s a better creator and superior in possession. Ings has scored one goal with zero assists in the league this season while Watkins has one goal and two assists.
Ings averages 11.7 passes per game to Watkins’ 18 with a completion ratio of 77.1% to his 81.5% while creating just one chance to his three. Ings averages a shot off target every 56 minutes to Watkins’ 204, so the former is also more wasteful.
And the fact Watkins has tripled Ings’ goal output this season should clinch it.
In other news, Steven Gerrard could drop Philippe Coutinho for Emiliano Buendia against West Ham
