On-loan Manchester United winger Marcus Rashford has had to share minutes with Ollie Watkins at Aston Villa, but new Emery arrangement could see both players start up front for the club.
Unai Emery has deployed Rashford as more of a central forward than a winger in recent games, a position which has seen him score his first three goals for Villa. But it means that he and Watkins have had to compete for the spot.
Emery has replaced one with the other in their last five games. Rashford started as the lone striker in the 3-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last week, before being subbed off for Watkins in the 79th minute.
But in his press conference today ahead of the return leg against PSG, Emery admitted he was considering starting both players up front in future.
“The next step – if I have time – is to play them together,” said Emery. “We did with Rashford playing left side but now we are choosing more with both playing as strikers. That’s the next step. I want to practise, I want to test. But not now, with enough time.”
Meanwhile, former Villa striker Dion Dublin, speaking on the Football Daily podcast, said that Emery should deploy both players against PSG at home this week, if they are to stand any chance at all of pulling off what would be an incredible comeback.
“What do PSG do if Unai Emery plays Ollie Watkins and Marcus Rashford together up front in the second leg?” said Dublin. “You’re 3-1 down, I think you’ve got an entirely different game if you play Watkins and Rashford up front as a two.
“That’s what I think Villa should do to get back in this game early on.”
Besides the Champions League quarter-finals, Villa are also in a thick race for the top five in the Premier League, along with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle. At least five sides are vying for three spots, with Liverpool and Arsenal having already claimed the top two.
Villa, although seventh, are separated from third place by only three points with six games to go. Having a fit and firing double pair of Rashford and Watkins would be immense for the club in the run-in.
