Exploring Ollie Watkins’ Alarming Decline in Form So Far in 2025/26

Aston Villa marksman Ollie Watkins has managed just one goal and no assists across the first 11 matches of the current campaign, which ultimately begs the question, what is fuelling this dip in form?

Ollie Watkins 2025/26 Stats Paint a Worrying Picture

Watkins provided an eye-opening 24 goals involvements (G16 & A8) throughout the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, with only Mohamed Salah (47 – G29 & A18), Alexander Isak (31 – G23 & A8) and Erling Haaland (25 – G22 & A3) contributing more, but the striker is yet to find his goalscoring touch this season.

Since arriving at Villa Park from Brentford in September 2020, the England international has netted 76 goals, providing a further 46 assists.

At this stage last season after 11 appearances, Watkins had five goals and two assists to his name, but he has just one goal recorded on the scoresheet so far in 2025/26. Not to mention England’s semi-final hero in 2022 hasn’t found the back of the net in any of his four UEFA Europa League phase games either. It’s a concerning time for Villa’s all-time record Premier League scorer as a World Cup year looms large.

While defenders, particularly attacking full-backs will score goals, players plying their trade at the opposite end of the field to Watkins – namely Mickey Van der Ven (3), Jurriën Timber (2), Trevoh Chalobah (2) and Ollie’s teammate Matty Cash (2) – have all found the back of the net on more occasions this season.

Reasons for Watkins’ Worrying Decline in Form

Rumours of a Supposed Injury

Watkins has started all but one of Villa’s 11 Premier League matches this season, but has featured in some capacity in all of those said matches after coming on as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur in gameweek eight.

Fans and pundits alike have suggested that Watkins may be carrying an underlying injury problem, which would come as no surprise given he struggled with three separate spells on the sidelines last term.

As one of Villa’s three recognised strikers, alongside Evann Guessand and the on-loan Louie Barry, who is currently at Championship strugglers Sheffield United, Unai Emery has been forced into deploying a natural winger in Donyell Malen as a lone striker to solve Villa’s drought up top.

According to the Official Fantasy Premier League, they measure Watkins’ current Influence rating at just 70.4 this season. Influence Ratings are determined by how much of an impact a player has throughout 90 minutes – so obviously scoring goals and providing assists would be at the top of the list – but as we’ve already discussed, this has been the area where Watkins has severely struggled to fill across the last few months.

Aston Villa’s Lack of Chance Creation

£100m-rated Morgan Rogers has been played out of position by Villa manager Emery throughout the 2025/26 campaign. Watkins’ domestic and international teammate has been predominantly used out on the left side in a three-man attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

It is clear this doesn’t suit a player who is more comfortable surging through the middle of the park, although Emi Buendia’s recent renaissance has posed Emery with a healthy selection headache.

Admittedly, Rogers has experienced his own slow start to the current campaign, celebrating only three times in front of goal (G1, A2); compared to last season, when he had already scored three times and added two assists in the first 11 matches.

Quickly looking at Rogers’ end-of-season figures, the 23-year-old was voted the 2025 PFA Young Player of the Year after racking up eight goals and 10 assists. 

Rogers playing as Villa’s only striker has even been quietly suggested by some amongst the fanbase, but you only have take a look at his loan spell at Middlesbrough from Manchester City in the Championship, where that experiment failed to blossom.

Pressure to be Named in England’s 2026 World Cup Squad

England’s all-time leading scorer, Harry Kane (76), is no doubt the first name on manager Thomas Tuchel’s team sheet. Competition for only one place up-front in Tuchel’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation is fierce, although a shallow bench of out-and-out forwards still leaves the door open for players like Watkins.

Watkins has often provided an exciting alternative to Kane when called upon by England, although that 90th-minute match-winner against the Netherlands in the semi-finals at Euro 2022 feels like like a lifetime ago, as he struggles to impress Tuchel.

Will Watkins be selected in Tuchel’s England World Cup 2026 squad? Time is quickly running out for him to prove that his services are essential, but being left out of the latest England squad for their recent World Cup Qualifying wins over Serbia and Albania doesn’t bode well.

What Does Watkins Need to Do to Improve His Fortunes?

As briefly touched on, Watkins has contributed over a century of goal contributions for Villa over the last five seasons, but the question could now be asked if the 29-year-old striker still has the prowess to beat the Premier League’s top centre-backs.

No one can question the fact that he knows where the back of the net is. However, his recent penchant for squandering one-on-one opportunities, however, left Watkins accused of lacking ‘real quality’ by Harry Redknapp in September, which he has done little to prove otherwise since.

With Watkins potentially on the edge of falling out of favour on the international front, there could easily be an internal concern that he could also lose his starting berth in the Villa XI. That could begin as early as Sunday with Emery’s side’s trip to Leeds United. Malen or Guessand could get the call ahead of Watkins. who could easily find himself among the substitutes for the game at Elland Road.