Ange Postecoglou is full of praise for the ‘outstanding’ Ollie Watkins as Tottenham Hotspur prepare to take on top-four rivals Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
After being marshalled superbly by Ajax youngsters Ahmetcan Kaplan and Jorrel Hato on Thursday night – the Aston Villa talisman a relative spectator during that goalless draw with Ajax – Postecoglou is in no mood to take the threat of a wounded Ollie Watkins lightly.
The England international will be desperate to relieve his frustrations when Unai Emery’s side host Tottenham Hotspur in the Midlands, Villa knowing that a win will put an eight-point gap between themselves and the London giants in the fourth and final Champions League spot.
Aston Villa host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday
“Watkins? He’s been outstanding,” Postecoglou said of the former Brentford forward during his pre-match press conference. “His durability to play game after game is credit to him and the way he leads the line.
“But he’s not just the focus.”
Watkins is not Aston Villa’s only threat of course – not with Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey and co playing arguably the best football of their careers – but he is the most obvious threat to Tottenham’s hopes of closing the gap in the table.
Watkins is second only behind Erling Haaland in the Premier League’s Golden Boot race. His tally of 10 assists, meanwhile, can only be rivalled by Newcastle United right-back Kieran Trippier.
Tottenham, at least, have a couple of in-form forwards themselves. Timo Werner produced his finest display in Spurs colours during a typical Ange-era comeback win over Crystal Palace last time out, while Brennan Johnson has come on leaps and bounds of late after a wasteful start to life in the capital.
Postecoglou praise for Werner and Johnson
“I think Werner has been really important,” Postecoglou adds, hailing the impact of a man who can be snapped up permanently from RB Leipzig in the summer for £15 million. “I can imagine, if we didn’t bring him in, it would have been a much bigger burden on the others
“Brennan Johnson? The good thing is he’s contributing and has been important for us. We’ve seen growth in him and he’s understanding the demands of the position. (He is) still very young.”
Johnson grabbed two assists as Tottenham blitzed Palace late on last Saturday. In total, the former Nottingham Forest flyer has six goal contributions in his last nine league appearances.
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