Ollie Watkins was unexpectedly left out of England’s last squad, but his recent Aston Villa performance hasn’t hurt his chances, and following recent injury news, he might be in line for a call from Gareth Southgate.
The 27-year-old followed up his winner against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Brighton on Saturday as Three Lions boss Southgate watched on from the stands at Villa Park.
Watkins is also relishing competing in Europe which will certainly hand him pleasing exposure, with Villa ending a 13-year absence from continental action in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
And following Fabrizio Romano’s updateon September 30, his impressive play and critical importance for Aston Villa and Unai Emery have justifiably meant that he is in line for a new contract at Villa Park.
While Watkins will be assisting his team in making up for their Europa Conference League loss to Legia Warsaw on the opening day, Southgate is scheduled to announce his squad for the upcoming international matches against Australia and Italy in the afternoon, so Watkins will be hoping to leave Villa Park on Thursday as an England player.
And it may well be that Southgate simply has no choice but to turn to Watkins as one of his regulars looks set to be ruled out.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka left the game against Lens in the first half due to a muscular issue, and manager Mikel Arteta afterwards commented that the injury “does not look good.” On Tuesday, 3 October, Arsenal lost 2-1 in the Champions League.
Saka’s exclusion is highly likely given that Southgate announces his team on Thursday, October 5. Although Watkins does not play the same position as Saka, he will undoubtedly compete with Eddie Nketiah, another Arsenal star, for a call-up.
Nketiah was unexpectedly called up for the most recent England international matches, replacing Watkins, but given both players’ current form, it would be a complete surprise if Southgate left Watkins out after seeing what he performed against Brighton.
