Aston Villa manager Unai Emery expresses strong confidence that striker Ollie Watkins will match his impressive goal tallies from recent seasons. Watkins snapped a seven-game scoring drought with a headed goal on the hour mark, giving Villa the lead in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 clash against Lille.

Watkins’ Recent Form Revival

The forward had a goal disallowed for a narrow offside against Chelsea last week. He also squandered chances late in Villa’s loss to Chelsea and during their earlier encounter with Lille. Now, Watkins shows increasing influence after his dry spell.

Emery’s Pre-Manchester United Comments

Ahead of Sunday’s match against Manchester United, Emery addressed Watkins’ resurgence in his pre-match press conference.

“Confidence is coming, firstly by scoring goals,” Emery began. “This year, he has not been achieving many assists like in the last few years, and the next challenge he can have against Manchester United is to score or assist.”

He added, “But first of all he needs to get his confidence doing his task. The task he does, he does it every day and in every match.”

Emery emphasized team support: “Of course, he needs to feel our support and to feel the supporters help. We are trying to do it with every player too.”

Reflecting on the Lille performance, Emery stated, “Yesterday, he scored a goal and yes he had another chance to score, but everything he is doing and achieving is because he is a fighter.”

Despite current numbers lagging behind previous campaigns, Emery remains optimistic: “Sometimes he is not achieving some numbers, or maybe until now his numbers are not like the last years, but there are still matches to play and I am confident he is going to achieve it.”