Aston Villa warmed up for the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain with a 3-0 Premier League win over Southampton.
The Villans needed some time to break down the already-relegated Saints, but they never looked back after opening the scoring in the 73rd minute.
Ollie Watkins, who had come on for Marcus Rashford in the 66th minute, fired in off the bar after latching on to Youri Tielemans’ ball over the top.
Donyell Malen then doubled Villa’s lead in the 79th minute, firing past the beleaguered Saints goalkeeper after being set up by Morgan Rogers.
Villa added a third in injury time, John McGinn netting on the rebound after Marco Asensio saw another penalty saved by Aaron Ramsdale, who Arsenal fans urged to join a better club.
With the crucial PSG game just three days away, fans said one player in particular needs to be in their starting XI.
Aston Villa fans call for Ollie Watkins to start against PSG
The player in question is Watkins, whose impact on the Southampton game was nothing short of game-changing.
Watkins’ goal had come at a crucial time for Villa, who were made to sweat after Asensio had his first penalty saved by Ramsdale.
“Watkins honestly needs to start vs PSG now,” one Villa fan wrote on X. “Easily earned it.”
Another said: “Watkins HAS to start vs PSG. No idea why he didn’t today. Rashford clearly better on the left – this has been proven about 30 times in his career already.”
The calls for Watkins to start on Tuesday kept coming, with one fan saying: “If Watkins is fully fit, he simply HAS to start. I don’t care.”
Another said: “Watkins has to start on Tuesday, love Rashford wide! That game was screaming for someone to run in behind and as soon as Ollie came on the game changed!”
Another fan said: “Watkins has to start against PSG we can’t have Rashford starting as a striker again.”
How Ollie Watkins fared against Southampton
Prior to Saturday, Watkins was struggling to make an impact up front, failing to score in five appearances for Villa since his goal against Brentford at the start of March.
However, Rashford hasn’t been doing particularly well as a No. 9, and Emery’s decision to swap him with Watkins in the second half proved a bit of a masterstroke.
| Ollie Watkins stats v Southampton | |
| Minutes played | 24′ |
| Goals | 1 |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Penalty won | 1 |
| Touches | 11 |
| Accurate passes | 6/7 (86%) |
| Long balls (acc.) | 1 (1) |
| Ground duels (won) | 3 (3) |
| Total tackles | 2 |
Aside from his goal and the penalty he won, Watkins also won all three of his ground duels and chipped in with two tackles.
Watkins’ performance has most likely given Emery food for thought ahead of a PSG tie in which Villa need to score as early as they can.
